A Patient’s Perspective: Bivalent Booster Offers Another Layer of Protection

by Rosie Bartel, patient advisor

As a patient who has a compromised immune system due to healthcare acquired MRSA, I decided to get the bivalent vaccine. My reason was that I do patient advisory work and I want to do some of it in person.

Since March 2020 I had been conducting all my advisory work virtually. Last spring, I began attending a few in-person conferences as well as some meetings at healthcare sites. I am scheduled to attend and present in person at several conferences in the next five months and I am attending more and more in-person meetings. I am also starting to do in-person presentations at healthcare facilities.

I haven’t had Covid-19 up to this point, but I have followed the isolation, hand hygiene, and masking rules and received Covid vaccinations as soon as they were offered in my area. I followed the protocols for vaccinations. With my health situation and the work I love doing, it made sense for me to receive the bivalent booster to continue with my activities. It was also highly recommended by my physicians. I firmly believe that this vaccine is just another layer of protection. Why wouldn’t I receive it?