Columbia lawmaker and nurse shares COVID-19 experience amid changing vaccine guidelines

Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

It’s been more than five years after the COVID-19 pandemic but it still weighs heavily on some nurses.

State Rep. Gregg Bush shared his experience working during the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday amid the backdrop of increased scrutiny and changing guidelines for vaccines. Bush gathered along other nurses in Mid-Missouri at the Columbia Public Library.

Bush is a registered nurse who worked in public health care during the global emergency. Bush said he realized COVID was going to spread as quickly as it did when he heard about the virus spreading in Italy.

He said one of the things many people in the public may not have fully understood at the time, is that nurses weren’t solely treating COVID patients.

“There were people that missed their dialysis. There’s people that came in with DKA. All of that is still going on. All of this underlying stuff that is still going on in society that is in our hospital today at the same time as this unknown respiratory virus going on,” Bush said.

Another issue health care workers experienced at the time was the spread of misinformation, which Bush referred to as another “pathogen” they have to deal with. Director of Nursing for MU Health Care for the Office of Professional Practice Jessica Haney said it made it made it hard for nurses to know what was true.

“It was just hard to know, ‘is this the right way?’ And if what this other group is saying contradicts, where’s their evidence?” Haney said. “I think at some point you just have to shut it off because it just kind of kept spiraling of who do you believe?”

While Bush looks to reflect on the past, many health care providers are now complying with new guidelines related to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for the fall and winter season in August. The regulations now state that Americans will be required to get a prescription to receive a COVID-19 vaccination unless they are 65 years or older or have underlying health conditions that put them at risk.

Healthy children under age 18 will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine after consulting with their health care provider.

Bush said he has a hard time trusting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the source for making the new guidelines.

“I know for a fact that there was a before vaccine and after vaccine and I know that there are people who would not be alive today if there were not access to vaccines,” Bush said. “The good news about science is when I get new data, I get to change my mind and it doesn’t make me weak. It makes me strong. And If there is good science involved with this, I think it should be presented.”

MU Health Care announced in a press release on Tuesday that it plans to host more than 200 COVID and flu vaccination events across Central Missouri this month and in October.

MU Health Care spokesman Eric Maze told ABC 17 News via email Tuesday that COVID vaccines will only be available for adults 65 and older or adults with a qualifying condition who can attest that they meet one or more risk factors.

“If a person cannot attest to high risk but still wishes to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, they can consult with a primary care practitioner and receive a vaccine from a clinic or pharmacy with a practitioner’s order,” Maze said.

Boone Health spokesman Christian Basi said in a statement Tuesday that the hospital group is “following the news” related to vaccine guidelines.

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