SAN ANTONIO — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a new vaccine advertisement featuring a 22-year-old San Antonio native with long COVID-19.
"I used to run 5 to 6 miles a day," Central Catholic graduate Rob Smith says in the commercial. "Now, when I walk up a flight of stairs, I'm gasping for air."
Smith caught the coronavirus in Sept. 2020. He says he noticed lingering problems a few weeks after he was infected.
"I would walk into a room and forget what I was doing," he said in an interview with KENS 5. "It almost felt like short-term memory loss, but it was just extreme tiredness."
Smith says he connected with the commercial's producers through an online support group for long-haulers. These sites are among the only places he and others with long COVID-19 can go for news and information on their condition.
"Not a lot of people know what's going on yet," he said. "I realized there were at least tens of thousands of people around the country dealing with the same problems."
Doctors recently told a congressional subcommittee the pandemic could be a 'mass-disabling' event. One San Antonio expert says millions of Americans could soon qualify for disability aid and services because lingering symptoms have hampered their ability to function.
"Right now, there's no cure or treatment," Smith said. "We just want to help people be informed... and make healthier choices."
The ad is slated to run throughout March.