Assistant professor in *epidemiology* explains why she's 'ashamed' and 'embarrassed' to have tested positive for COVID-19

Greg P. | 10:41 AM on December 30, 2021

Dr. Hailey Banack, an assistant professor in epidemiology at SUNY Buffalo, says she felt “ashamed” and “embarrassed” to have tested positive for COVID:

I tested positive for COVID on Sunday. As an ultra-cautious, triple vaccinated, always-masker I was shocked and very afraid.

To my surprise, I also felt ashamed. And embarrassed. How could *I* have let this happen? How could *I* have put my family at risk?

cont'd…

— Dr. Hailey Banack (@haileybanack) December 28, 2021

Shouldn’t a professor of epidemiology be like the one person in the country who understands how a respiratory virus works and is NOT ashamed or embarrassed?

Objectively speaking, I understand that COVID is highly contagious and I did everything in my power to avoid this/keep my loved ones safe.

However, if you're feeling any of the same emotions I am (whether it's logical or not), just know that you are not alone.

— Dr. Hailey Banack (@haileybanack) December 28, 2021

We get that some people feel this way, but doctors?

It's clear a lot of people that have made sacrifices over the last 2 years feel this way.

What I don't understand is how so many doctors, scientists etc. came to believe something that was so obviously wrong (that they cd avoid Covid-19 if they just did the right things)? https://t.co/6ftrcSwHLu

— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 30, 2021

As a not-that-cautious, triple vaccinated, never-masker who has been LIVING LIFE I still haven’t gotten it and I’m not ashamed or embarrassed.

When I finally catch it I will not be shocked or afraid.

Because that’s how viruses work. https://t.co/MBU3LrOEmR

— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) December 30, 2021

It does show how many think they were just better than everyone else who did get it:

The arrogant superiority embedded in the "how could *I* have gotten covid?" reveals the class-based discrimination that has animated so much of the attitude we've been dealing with from those who believe they're better than us and therefore had their own warped sense of immunity. https://t.co/hd6dz2Gaqt

— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) December 30, 2021

And *not* tweeting is always an option: