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Alyssa Milano is sending a strong message about COVID-19 in her new PSA for The Creative Coalition, advocating for everyone to get vaccinated and opening up about her own experience with the disease.
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“I’m not sure when I’ll feel like myself again, and that’s hard for me to admit,” Milano says in the ad. “I got COVID. So many others died, and yet I’m lucky. I’m still here. But so are my long-haul symptoms. Even the best doctors and scientists don’t know what to expect moving forward. But what they do know is that we now have a vaccine against this devastating virus. It is safe and effective. It can keep you from getting critically ill.”
She continues, “I wish this vaccine had been around before so many of us had gotten sick. But it is here now. For you. This shot means that you can be there again with family, friends, and neighbours. Be there. This is your shot.”
In an interview with People, Milano spoke about why she decided to participate in the PSA.
“I knew that it was something that I wanted to be involved in, because I don’t see how there’s going to be an end to this if we don’t get people vaccinated — and that’s not only the people in our country but people throughout the world,” she said. “So, if I can take my experience from having COVID and be able to turn it around and help people, I’m all for it.”
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While the actress is mostly recovered, she said that she is still experiencing symptoms like shortness of breath, brain fog and “aches and pains that feel like they’re on a skeletal level.”
“I’m done with fighting it, so I’ve kind of just almost surrendered to the idea that this might be how I feel now for the rest of my life,” she added. “But I try to rest more and drink lots of water and take my supplements and do the best that I can.”
After getting the vaccine, Milano did notice some of her symptoms seemed to improve.
“I do think that there was some improvement, although it’s not that anything was completely alleviated,” she said. “It just felt like less of everything.”
She added, “I just got my second shot on Thursday, and I had some chills and aches and pains, but it’s a lot less than actually suffering from COVID. There’s just so much that we still don’t know, and with the variants and the different ways that COVID can mutate, it could cause another shutdown. The vaccine is completely safe for people who have had COVID and I think it’s really important that everyone, including those who have had COVID, get vaccinated.”
