Dr. André Frederick of CarolinaEast Health System is not only seeing more patients coming in, but they’re younger and sicker than before. Why? The Delta variant is spreading like wildfire across the U.S., but people continue to forego vaccinations or social distancing with masks. The result is a dire situation for those in contact with an infected person, not to mention the infected person themselves.

“The overwhelming narrative I get from patients, especially younger [patients] is that ‘I didn’t think it would be so bad if I got it’,” Dr. Frederick said.

This has led Frederick to have some difficult conversations with patients who regret not getting vaccinated. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Vaccination is the key to not only minimizing the number of hospitalizations but in decreasing the severity of symptoms.

Hear his full experience from the frontline and hear more stories from frontline workers here. And visit https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/vaccines to find a vaccination site near you.