Dr. Brytney Cobia is a mom of two children. She and her husband, Dr. Miles Cobia, both battled with Covid back in July 2020. Brytney was 27 weeks pregnant at the time. Thankfully, her symptoms were mild, and she and her husband both recovered.  Her baby was fine as well.

When Covid vaccines first became available to healthcare workers in December 2020, Brytney didn’t hesitate to get vaccinated. She was breastfeeding her baby, and there was uncertainty about whether or not that was safe after getting the vaccine, but after consulting other doctors including her OB, she made the decision to keep breastfeeding.

Brytney works with Covid patients at the Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, and currently she mostly treats patients who haven’t been vaccinated for Covid. Brytney told AL.com that she tries not to judge the patients for being unvaccinated. Instead, she simply asks them why they haven’t gotten the vaccine. She said, “Most of them, they’re very honest, they give me answers. ‘I talked to this person, I saw this thing on Facebook, I got this email, I saw this on the news,’ you know, these are all the reasons that I didn’t get vaccinated. And the one question that I always ask them is, did you make an appointment with your primary care doctor and ask them for their opinion on whether or not you should receive the vaccine? And so far, nobody has answered yes to that question.”

Brytney explained in an emotional Facebook post that when unvaccinated patients are admitted to the hospital, they often ask her for the vaccine, but she tells them, “I’m sorry, but it’s too late.”

Then, she explained her experience with the family members after a patient dies of Covid. “They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick. They thought it was ‘just the flu’. But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back. But they can’t.”

Brytney tells family members that the best way to honor their loved ones who passed away from Covid is to get vaccinated. She wrote, “They thank me and they go get the vaccine. And I go back to my office, write their death note, and say a small prayer that this loss will save more lives.”

Currently only 33.7 percent of Alabama residents have been fully vaccinated for Covid.

Have you been vaccinated for Covid? Does Brytney’s experience make you more likely to get vaccinated for Covid?