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'Nothing fake about this virus' | Father gets vaccinated after daughter gets sick with COVID-19

"It isn’t fake. There’s nothing fake about this virus. I can tell you. If you see your loved one go through it."

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — What makes someone decide to get the COVID vaccine now after it’s been available for months? For one Jacksonville Beach father, it was seeing his own daughter get sick.

Larry Snodgrass and his wife got the virus in December.

"My wife and I were lucky, fortunate that we didn’t get real sick with it," Snodgrass said.  

When the vaccine was available a couple of months later, they didn’t get vaccinated. He said his primary care doctor said their antibodies "were stronger probably than the vaccine, but then he wasn’t sure."

He said he also heard so much conflicting information.

"The administration says get it. Other people say it’s not a big deal, that you don’t need to get the vaccine," Snodgrass said. "It’s very confusing. We were really confused about that."

Then, about three weeks ago, his daughter contracted the virus and became ill from COVID-19. 

She is a 50-year-old woman. She was not vaccinated. 

She said she had just been cleared by her doctor to get the vaccine days prior to learning she had the virus. 

"We were concerned," Snodgrass said. "After I saw her, geez she was really sick."

"I’d go to the store for her and leave the bags outside. She’s come out and get them and I’d talk with her," Snodgrass continued.  "Oh, if you had seen her."

He said she did not have to go to the hospital, but she became very ill. That was enough for Snodgrass.

"It was an experience for us," he said. "And that experience is what put us over to get the vaccine."

He and his sweetheart got the vaccine last week.

"It got to a point where we felt it’s time to do it," Snodgrass nodded. 

Uncertainty about the Delta variant and the couple’s desire to travel without restrictions played a role in getting the vaccine too.

He admits the virus makes him angry.

"This virus thing is out of hand. It isn’t fake. There’s nothing fake about this virus. I can tell you. If you see your loved one go through it," Snodgrass said. "I hope people see this and realize go get the vaccine and get it over with and maybe we can get this thing under control. We really need to go ahead and do it."

    

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