7/29/21
As this mom prays for a miracle, in English and Polish, over her daughter’s body, she said she has a message for the public, and especially for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “The governor should encourage people to take vaccines, to wear masks, to apply the (Covid) guidelines,” Velasquez said. DeSantis doubled down against mask mandates Tuesday, after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance recommending children wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. In Florida, which accounted for 20 percent of the nation’s new cases earlier this month, the positivity rate has jumped to 15.1 percent, according to state data. Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International University who advises Miami-Dade County leaders on the pandemic, said she is not surprised the virus has reared its head again in her state and across the country. “In every case, we keep jumping the gun and behaving as if the pandemic’s over because case numbers are going down. And that allows the virus to once again, take the upper hand,” Marty said. Marty’s advice? Get vaccinated and wear masks, even for those already fully vaccinated.
Velasquez said her daughter, who was healthy, had not been vaccinated before Covid-19 attacked her body. She panned the camera to the machines showing her daughter’s heart rate and oxygen levels. Then, she said that when her daughter started feeling ill and couldn’t breathe, the teen called on her mother asking for help. And while she said she doesn’t know where Paulina contracted the deadly virus, she said it might have been at school or church. As Paulina’s symptoms became more severe, her mother said the teen worried about her brothers. “She wanted her brothers to get vaccinated,” Velasquez said. The worried mother said her sons are in the process of getting vaccinated. Velasquez is helping coordinate their vaccines from her daughter’s ICU room, where she now spends every hour of the day since her daughter Paulina fell ill. Velasquez panned the camera to show the couch where she sleeps and the food tray where she set up a computer workstation. “I came with my daughter and I’m not going anywhere,” Velasquez said.
www.cnn.com
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