A vegan who avoided getting a COVID vaccine caught the virus and developed hives all over her body that were so itchy they made it painful to wear clothes.
Doorae Shin, 29, thought that she would experience mild symptoms if she contracted the virus, and forewent vaccination. When she contracted the virus earlier this month, she was shocked with the severity of her illness, and battled severe symptoms for 10 days.
'I thought being 29, vegan, not drinking, and being active protected me enough,' Shin, from Oahu in Hawaii, wrote in her Thursday social media post.
'I wish I got immunized, and I hope this plants a seed for some .'
Shin shared photos of the angry hives that spread over her face and legs during the 10 days that she convalesced - the 'super itchy' irritation, she said, also covered her torso and arms
'Just walking caused my shirt to be really uncomfortable on my skin,' she said
The first day of her 10-days COVID-positive, she wrote, her legs were 'sore to the bone.' Then, the next day, she had chills and a fever of 102 degrees
Shin shared photos of the angry hives that spread over her face and legs during the 10 days that she convalesced - the 'super itchy' irritation, she said, also covered her torso and arms.
'Just walking caused my shirt to be really uncomfortable on my skin,' she wrote.
After her partner, Rob, 'came back on a full airplane and likely got infected there' both he and Shin tested positive for COVID-19.
The first day, she wrote, her legs were 'sore to the bone.' Then, the next day, she had chills and a fever of 102 degrees.
On other days during her recovery process, she experienced intense headaches, all-over soreness, fatigue, nausea, a loss of appetite, a severe cough and a sore throat.
'I’m really happy that yesterday, we tested negative and feel so much better,' she wrote. 'But I wanted to share that I was wrong about the vax.'
'As someone who was hesitant and who is still distrustful of big pharma, and as someone who takes my health seriously, I have to say that COVID is really bad even for healthy folks,' she wrote.
'Yes you can be lucky and asymptomatic, but Delta is hitting younger, healthier people harder, and I can attest to it personally.'
Shin said issues including the opioid epidemic had left her wary of trusting a new vaccine developed by pharmaceutical firms, although the Centers for Disease Control insists COVID shots are safe, with severe side effects very rare.
Paramedic calls hit a record-high on the island of Oahu while she was ill, she said, and whenever she heard an ambulance wail, she was reminded 'how if was unhealthy at all, how could be hospitalized.'
After her partner, Rob, 'came back on a full airplane and likely got infected there' (it is unclear where Rob was travelling from), both he and Shin tested positive for COVID-19
'Most unvaccinated people I know are not Republicans. They are progressive, healthy folks who distrust big pharma and are suspicious of all the changing info out there. And we need to appeal to them by validating their mistrust, which is justified,' Shin wrote
'I’m really happy that yesterday, we tested negative and feel so much better,' she wrote. 'But I wanted to share that I was wrong about the vax'
She said her decision to forego the vaccine stemmed from a distrust of the pharmaceutical industry.
'The narrative around vaccinated vs unvaccinated folks is so toxic and polarizing, and it’s not working,' she said.
'Most unvaccinated people I know are not Republicans. They are progressive, healthy folks who distrust big pharma and are suspicious of all the changing info out there. And we need to appeal to them by validating their mistrust, which is justified.'
If our government 'talked about preventative health through diet and exercise,' she mused, other young people who felt the same way would 'feel more trustful of the overall messaging.
Shin is a vegan, the Oahu chapter coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation, on the Board of Directors for Kahumana Organic Farm and Hawaii Green Growth
According to local publication Star Advertiser, 77 percent of Hawaii residents between the ages of 18 and 29 are vaccinated.
The outlet reported that on Friday, Maui Memorial Medical Center said it was caring for 34 COVID-19 patients, with six in intensive care and two on ventilators.
More than 70 percent of those patients are under 60.
On June 21, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, only 31.7 percent of people between 18 and 24 were fully vaccinated and 52.6 percent of US citizens between 25 and 29 years old had gotten both shots.
Of the total US population, 55.9 percent were fully vaccinated. Comparatively, 89 percent of those between 65 and 74 had the inoculation.
Based on vaccination rates in June, the agency predicted that only 57.5 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds nationwide would have received at least a first dose by August 29, as compared with 78.4% of all US adults.
