LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, front-line health care workers received the most effective protection against the novel virus: a vaccine.

Three years ago, doctors at UofL Health were the first in Kentucky to roll up their sleeves for the shot. Chief Medical Officer Jason Smith was first in line, and he remembers that moment vividly.

“It is strange to think it was three years ago because that doesn't seem that long ago,” Smith said. “It was just the fact that there was what we thought would be an end in sight. Up until that point, we had nothing other than batten down the hatches and we're going to do our best.”

Smith held onto that vaccine vial and keeps it on a shelf in his office. To him, it’s a reminder of what everybody went through and of hope.

"You know, sometimes it's important to say that even in difficult times, there will be an end in sight and we will get through this," Smith said.

Nationally, COVID hospitalizations are at a fraction of what they were in December 2020.

The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data reports around 22,500 COVID-related hospital admissions, as of the first week of December.

UofL Health reports 30 COVID patients across its entire network, with four of them in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Smith said he considers that a spike in cases these days. While there is still hardship, such as the uncertainty around why the virus makes some very ill and not others, he's looking on the bright side. 

"I am optimistic," he said. "The fact is that three years on, this pandemic has probably run its course, and what we see with COVID now is what we're going to live with, really, probably for the rest of our lives. It may change slightly, but crystal ball is that it's going to look like this really for the next few decades.”

Smith adds one of the other challenges they still face is the ever-changing guidance of treating and preventing COVID-19. He recommends talking with doctors to address questions about the virus.