I had not planned on getting a COVID-19 vaccination. That despite the fact I believe we have a responsibility as Americans to get one.
But I didn’t want one. I never get vaccinated, and I never get sick.
But when I opened my News Break app this morning, I saw that yet another Denver Sheriff’s Department deputy from the downtown detention center had died. That makes two in one month.
What’s more, I recognized both from when I spent time in the jail. Both were polite and professional.
The Newsweek story I read on News Break regarding the latest death was unsettling.
“A sheriff's deputy in Denver, Colorado, who shared anti-vaccine content on Facebook has died of COVID,” Newsweek reported. “Daniel ‘Duke’ Trujillo, 33, died on Wednesday evening from COVID complications, the Denver Sheriff Department said on Thursday. Trujillo was a former Marine who served as a deputy sheriff for 7 years and had recently been appointed vice-president of the Denver Sheriff Latino Organization.”
Trujillo didn’t want a COVID-19 vaccine any more than I did. He posted his views on Facebook.
“A Facebook profile photo updated in early May said, ‘I have an immune system,’ a common refrain among those eschewing pandemic-era precautionary measures,” Newsweek reported. “In late April, Trujillo's profile picture bore a banner that read "I don't care if you've had your vaccine."
I kept my COVID vaccination preference private
According to some on social media, Trujillo went even further than that. I have avoided posting my views of the vaccine on social media.
I believe the vaccine is largely safe and effective. But I worried about side effects. The deaths of the deputies are particularly unsettling because I spent several months in that jail. I did become extremely sick and had trouble breathing about a year ago, around the time of my release. At one point a doctor in the jail said he believed I had COVID-19 but a test showed otherwise.
COVID is circulating throughout the downtown detention center right now.
“The facility had recorded 11 active COVID cases as of Thursday, according to data by the Denver Sheriff's Department,” Newsweek reported. “It's unclear whether Trujillo contracted the virus there.
“Less than two weeks before Trujillo's passing, Denver Sheriff's Deputy James Herrera, 51, died of COVID-19 on May 16. Trujillo had paid tribute to Herrera by posting a picture of him as his Facebook cover photo, calling Herrera his ‘brother and coworker.’”
Vaccination comes to me today
Just as I was finishing reading the story about the deputies came a knock on my door. It was my doctor. She had stopped by to let me know a crew was vaccinating anyone in my building who wanted the shot. I could simply go down to the second floor between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and get a shot.
I live in a building owned by Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. I have wraparound healthcare services in my building. I am incredibly lucky.
I went down to the second floor and was pleased to learn I would be getting the Johnson and Johnson vaccine – “Just one and you’re done.”
I asked those distributing the vaccine if they had been out to any of the homeless encampments to vaccinate. They said they had. I asked whether homeless people were suspicious of the vaccine. They said there is some distrust.
Relieved to finally be vaccinated
I don’t think we’re done with COVID-19 yet. I fear there will be a resurgence.
I am relieved I am vaccinated. I remember when I had trouble breathing inside the jail how very scary that was.
Until you’ve ever really grasped for breath, you don’t know what that feels like. At that’s what I was doing in the jail. Gasping.
My sympathies go out to the families of deputies Trujillo and Herrera. Their deaths inspired me to get the COVID-19 vaccine today.