Thread by @washingtonpost

Conspiracy theories about the pandemic had penetrated deep into a community in the Appalachian highlands.

Nurses there were enduring a trauma that many nurses elsewhere were not: the suspicion and derision of those they risked their lives to protect. wapo.st/3xgQME1

For some nurses, it is as if they fought in a war no one acknowledges.

“You’re living this reality that people don’t understand, and there’s nothing you can say that will convince them,” said nurse Emily Boucher. wapo.st/3xgQME1

(📸: Katherine Frey/The Post)

When Boucher became the first person to receive the coronavirus vaccine in the 21 counties served by her hospital’s parent company, Ballad Health, Boucher hoped her example would at least inspire others to get inoculated. wapo.st/3xgQME1

(Video courtesy of Ballad Health)

Then came the comments on Facebook, where news stations had posted photos and videos of Boucher’s inoculation.

Some speculated that the syringe might not have actually contained any vaccine. Others said she must be getting kickbacks from Pfizer. wapo.st/3xgQME1

Boucher returned to her crowded ICU knowing that to some in her community, her vaccination was not a turning point and she was not a hero. She was just another part of the hoax.

“They just say you’re lying,” she said. wapo.st/3xgQME1

https://twitter.com/PeteJamison/status/1412418340400906251?s=20

The post-traumatic stress experienced by health care workers like Boucher has been compared to what soldiers suffer.

But in places still rife with covid denial, there's a difference: It's like having fought in a war many believe never took place. wapo.st/3xgQME1