DALLAS — At 54-years-old Angela Johnson is proud to say she’s never been vaccinated, or she was.
Her mother raised her to believe the best medicine is all natural. Vitamins and herbal supplants have always been her first choice of remedy. Growing up she rarely got sick and says she’s always had good health. Although as adult she’d had her fair share of sick days, she’s never caught the flu and has always been proud of her strong immune system.
A mother of five, she raised her children to believe the same, and the tradition to not get vaccinated has been passed along to her 13 grandchildren. In March 2020 when the pandemic shut down cities across the world, Johnson was working as a flight attendant in New York City, where COVID-19 outbreaks were among the nation's highest with cases rising each day.
“I was scared,” said Johnson. “I have a good immune system, but I know I’m not invincible.”
Working as a flight attendant for 15 years she credited her use of vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements for rarely getting sick, even with all the traveling.
“My family has always been brought up on herbs,” said Johnson. “So, when the virus came out as a flight attendant the only thing I did then was doubled up and tripled up on the herbs.”
Within the first couple of months of the shutdown Johnson retired from the job she loved because she didn’t want to risk catching the virus and passing it along to her 85-year-old mother. Her mother has been a source of encouragement and inspiration for Johnson over the years. She said even in her old age her mother is a fighter.
“She had a stroke and an aneurysm at the same time,” said Johnson. “She couldn’t move her left side at all when she first had the stroke, but after time and determination she came back, you would not even know it now.”
Johnson hopes to be that strong when she’s that age, but in July she didn’t think she’d make it past the month after catching the delta variant of COVID-19.
“It was unbelievable pain, unimaginable pain,” said Johnson “I can’t even describe it because I’ve never had that type of pain in my life, associated with the fever.”
Her symptoms included a fever temperature above 100 degrees for more than two weeks and not being able to eat without vomiting soon after. She’s lost more than 20 pounds since July 15.
“I was so lethargic,” said Johnson. “I could barely stand up. I couldn’t even make it from my bedroom to the toilet because I was so weak.”
There to help in her time of need was her friend and down-the-hall neighbor Panda Ross. She just so happens not only to live on the same floor of her apartment building, but also works on the same floor of the hospital Johnson recovered in.
“It was like a sense of relief knowing that I know someone personally that worked there,” said Johnson. “Because she worked on the same floor, she was able to come see me every day, sometime twice a day.”
Working at the hospital Ross said she witnessed people die from COVID and was worried for Johnson’s health. She said although she would never wish anything bad for her friend, she wasn’t surprised Johnson had caught COVID since she refused to be vaccinate and wasn’t wearing a mask often.
“I prayed,” said Ross “Lord, please don’t let this get any worse than a cough or a fever. As time passed it kept getting worse and worse. For one minute there I honestly thought she might not make this.”
Before catching the virus, Johnson said she preached against the vaccine and should have been more responsible. Like Ross, she also was worried she wouldn’t pull through and feared for her life.
“Having that variant, it definitely humbled me,” said Johnson “Before, I was walking around not taking it as serious as I should have because I was not wearing a mask unless I had to.”
She’s now had a change of heart and wants to educate those not taking the pandemic seriously.
When I first met Johnson I was waiting in the checkout line at a CVS in Downtown Dallas and witnessed her encouraging total strangers to get vaccinated.
“You guys make sure you stay masked up even if you’re vaccinated, the delta variant ain’t no joke!” she said to myself and the people I stood in line with.
So, of course, I gave her my Spectrum News 1 business card and asked for her story. She then invited me to share it with anyone who will listen or read.
“I’m telling everybody,” Johnson said. “I have to get a feel of that person before I approach them. Since I’ve been home, I’ve probably spoken to about 200 people.”
Johnson is happy to know many Texans with hesitations of getting vaccinated have loosened their reservations now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Monday.
“I’ll be getting the vaccine in three months when the anti-bodies have left my system,” she said.
Studies have shown that the available vaccines are effective against disease and hospitalization caused by the delta variant. According to the CDC and health experts around the world the best protection against any COVID-19 variant is getting fully vaccinated.
“I hope that this interview convinces people that I’m not joking,” she said. “I don’t babble on about nothing, when I say something, it means something.”
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