
Dr. Tom Joiner
As Mississippians, we know a thing or two about taking care of each other. As a family physician, I have always taken great joy in participating in the care of families and providing them with advice to keep themselves and their family members healthy and safe. The COVID-19 pandemic was very challenging to us all, but like we always have, Mississippians rolled up our sleeves and got to work. We did the things we knew worked – socially distanced, washed our hands, wore masks, stayed home when we were and generally took precautions to keep each other healthy.
When the vaccines became available, it was a turning point in our journey to getting back to The Mississippi Way. We began to understand that the vaccines provided us a much greater level of protection from a very serious virus and gave us much better chances of staying out of the hospital or suffering catastrophic effects and even death. This was one of our first tickets out of isolation land and back to our usual ways of life. Anytime there is something new, it’s human nature to have questions. It was a pleasure during those early days to be able to have those conversations with families and to go over why physicians trust the vaccines and recommend them to our patients. In fact, I saw it as a duty to have these talks and to use my education and training to relay a sense of trust to the patients.
As a seasoned family doctor, I can tell you that vaccines are one of the greatest inventions if not the single greatest invention of the 20th century. They prolong life span and also general wellbeing during one’s life. The mRNA COVID vaccines are some of the safest vaccines ever produced! There’s been a lot of misinformation out there for the public to sort through, but it’s my honor as a Mississippi physician leader to help provide a trusted source of COVID-19 vaccine information. The vaccines are safe, protect patients from serious illness and long-term issues from COVID and are out path back to The Mississippi Way! If you haven’t gotten yours yet, I strongly encourage you to get the shot!