COLUMBIA, S.C. — Medical professionals are warning South Carolinians that if things don't change when it comes to vaccination, masking, and social distancing, we could be experiencing the highest surge in COVID-19 cases to date.
As community members continue to get sick, many want to share their stories to help others take precautions.
“I can honestly say with myself being vaccinated, I do believe that’s what saved me from having the symptoms of the fever, the throwing up, the headaches, I’ve not had any of those symptoms," Crystal Guess said.
She received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine back in March and is now witnessing firsthand the effects of being sick with COVID-19 at the same time, her 16-year-old son Caiden, who is unvaccinated, is also experiencing the illness
“I’ve been fortunate because my son- today is the first day he has not had a fever," Guess said.
Caiden was scheduled to get his vaccine Wednesday but woke up feeling sick. The whole family went to get tested for COVID-19 and both Caiden and Crystal tested positive.
“He’s had 102, 103-degree fever since Wednesday. He’s had nausea, throwing up, a headache so bad he couldn’t stand up. I mean he’s had the major symptoms. But the only thing I’ve had is just sneezing, runny nose, and a sore throat," Guess said.
University of South Carolina student Ashley Schmidt had all the severe symptoms Caiden had but she actually received the vaccine earlier this year.
“I don’t want anyone to get as sick as I did. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. That sucked. That was the sickest I’ve ever been," Ashley said.
Ashley’s three roommates also tested positive with symptoms like chest pains, coughing, congestion, dizziness, among other things.
“I had Moderna and I had the worst symptoms, my one roommate had Pfizer and she still had really bad symptoms but not as bad as me," Ashely said. "[but] she still was really down bad. And then my other roommate who was unvaxxed only had the sniffles and the only reason why she got tested was because we all tested positive.”
While Ashley and her friends' situations stand out, medical professionals are still encouraging not only vaccination but physical distancing and masking as well because the hospitals are filling up.
Dr. Wendell James at Prisma Health says they need the public to work with them to help stop cases like these from spreading further.
“We beg you, please work with us. We have no other interest but yours," Dr. James said. "We are dealing with a younger population. We have young mothers and fathers coming in here and going on vents and some of them die. That was not with the previous two surges. There are stronger people that are getting this virus than we previously saw.”