A year later, NC’s 1st vaccine recipient calls COVID’s ‘a tricky virus’
Dr. Katie Passaretti says doctors have come “a tremendous way” in protecting individuals and saving lives since she became the first person in North Carolina to get a COVID-19 vaccine almost a year ago.
Doctors have learned even more about how variants of concern, like the recently discovered omicron, develop and how to mitigate the different strains, Passaretti, Atrium Health’s medical director of infection prevention, told reporters during a virtual call Friday about the state’s first omicron case.
But they’ve also learned that “COVID is a tricky virus,” she said.
“It will continue to throw challenges at us until it becomes part of the normal respiratory viruses that we’ve seen and becomes more manageable,” Passaretti said.
Since Passaretti got her shot on Dec. 14, 2020, about 62% of the state’s total population has been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Health.
Passaretti’s remarks came not long after North Carolina’s first confirmed omicron case was reported. A student at UNC Charlotte who had traveled out of state for Thanksgiving became the first person to contract the new strain, local health officials said. The student was isolated and has recovered.
“We will, for sure, for sure, see an increase in cases ... as omicron spreads,” Passaretti said. She added that its presence in North Carolina “is no cause for panic” because doctors are now far better prepared for new variants.
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 6:25 PM with the headline "A year later, NC’s 1st vaccine recipient calls COVID’s ‘a tricky virus’."
