Medical student who survived COVID-19 tells her story to Buffalo youth

Nadia Vazquez, a 26-year-old UB medical student, is a survivor of COVID-19. She wants people her age to know they could get infected just as she did. That’s why she is telling her story at virtual meetings geared toward teens and younger adults.

Sponsored by the Confident Girl Mentoring Program, a local mentoring organization, the meetings are part of the COVID-19 Community Café Series, the goal of which is to provide people in Buffalo ages 16 and older with information about how COVID-19 has been impacting Generation Z.

The first meeting was held last week; another will take place on Thursday.

“Our organization wanted to host this conversation so that our young people in Buffalo get the facts so they can do what they need to do to stay healthy and to succeed,” says Tiffany Lewis, president and CEO of Confident Girl Mentoring Program.

The series is co-sponsored by Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Buffalo, the Buffalo Center for Health Equity and two UB organizations: the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and the Community Health Equity Research Institute.

Vazquez, a member of the Jacobs School Class of 2024, says she was eager to participate in the meetings, both as an aspiring physician and as a COVID-19 survivor.

“I believe this is important both as a medical student and because of the hesitancy of people, especially minority people, to get the vaccine,” she says. “I want to be there and listen to their concerns. I can provide them with accurate information and sources that could help them understand the virus.”

Timothy F. Murphy, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School, and director of both the CTSI and the Community Health Equity Research Institute, stresses the importance of connecting with young people as the pandemic increasingly impacts these populations.

“Now that the majority of the population over age 65 has been vaccinated, spread of the virus in the community is occurring predominantly among younger people,” he says. “More and more young individuals are being hospitalized and experiencing more severe illness.

“That is why the Community Health Equity Research Institute, in particular, is now making it a priority to connect with youth, particularly in our underserved communities. We are reaching out to teens and young adults during this continuing pandemic so that they understand the stakes and can share that information with their peers.”

Vasquez’s story will be especially illuminating. “I don't have any pre-existing conditions,” she explains. “I wasn't traveling, and I was healthy. I want to tell them my story and help them understand that I thought I was going to die.”

For Vazquez, the scariest part about her illness was seeing how alarmed and concerned her family members were. “You don’t think about yourself in those moments. You think about all the people in your life,” she says. “It’s not worth them losing you or you losing them. So get the vaccine.

“The vaccine doesn't scare me, but COVID did and still does,” she adds. “I almost died due to the virus and am still recovering and experiencing the long-term effects of the virus. I hope the participants hear my story and understand that this could have been them.”

In addition to Vazquez, speakers at the series include Murphy, Lewis; youth organizer Devon Patterson; Aqeela-Jihaada Thompson of Rise to My Call; youth advocate James Macleod; and Stan Martin, director of CAI-REACH Buffalo.