State House News Service
Goldberg Says Infusion Likely Kept Her Out Of Hospital
Without the intervention of a monoclonal antibody infusion during her bout with COVID-19, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg thinks she might have ended up in a hospital. Goldberg, who contracted the virus in early February before she was eligible to get vaccinated, recounted her harrowing experience with the illness as she encouraged Massachusetts residents to get vaccinated in an interview with WCVB’s “On the Record” that aired Sunday.
“What I can say is you don’t know if you’re going to have a mild case. You wake up every morning sort of patting your body and saying, ‘Am I still here?'” Goldberg said. “I was fortunate enough to have the monoclonal infusion. I have to think that without it, I might have been hospitalized.”
Like many other patients, Goldberg said the worst stretch of her illness came not on the first or second day but instead about a week and a half into it. “On day 10, my oxygen level did drop, but it stabilized, and that’s why I think the monoclonal kept me out of the hospital,” she said. “I was a long-hauler. But I’m over it now and my doctor had a theory that when I was vaccinated — and I had to wait because after monoclonal you have to wait — that the vaccine would reverse the long-haul effects, and it did.”
The two-term Democrat declared that she “never stopped working” along the way, recalling that she recorded a podcast with Delaware Treasurer Colleen Davis “on the third day I had COVID.” As the omicron variant continues to spread rapidly, Goldberg said it “remains to be seen” exactly what role shutdowns and capacity limits will play in the latest phase of pandemic management. “I think you won’t see the number of shutdowns that we saw last year because there really isn’t an appetite for it,” Goldberg said, expressing hope that omicron infections may be less severe than earlier variants. “I’m concerned about the degree and the length of time.” – Chris Lisinski/SHNS
