Doctor honored for her efforts to vaccinate Merced County residents during COVID pandemic

Merced County leaders gathered this week to honor a local pediatrician who by all accounts went the extra mile to assist in efforts to vaccinate residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Sima Asadi was recognized Tuesday as the “California Woman of the Year” for Assembly District 21 during a ceremony outside her practice in Merced.

Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, was on hand to personally recognize Asadi’s service to the people of Merced County and California, providing her with a state resolution for the special honor.

Asadi operates an independent pediatric practice in Merced — the first in the county to begin testing for COVID-19 and administering vaccinations.

With the help of volunteers, Asadi organized clinics in a focused effort to vaccinate farm workers, educators and elderly people throughout Merced County, including rural places like Planada and Le Grand.

“This past year as we’ve struggled to deal with the pandemic and all of the associated challenges, Dr. Asadi and her team and her family have just gone way, way above and beyond,” Gray said.

Asadi said she was thankful for the recognition and for those who volunteered their time during the pandemic. “It is incredibly with a lot of respect and humility, that I accept this honor, Asadi said.

According to Asadi, she recognized early on that the only way to be successful as a community was if the private and public sectors worked together to address a crisis of such a large magnitude.

Asadi said she was on county phone calls since the first day of the pandemic, staying involved so that at any given time she would understand where the greatest need was — whether it was testing or vaccinations.

In addition to her office hours, she began vaccinating patients in the parking lot of her practice, even cutting a lot of days short in order to do so.

Asadi set up clinics in Planada with the help of Planada Elementary School District Superintendent Jose Gonzalez and began working with the City of Merced to set up an indoor vaccination clinic.

“I knew that as a private practice pediatrician that I could mobilize volunteers and mobilize effort quicker than the public side,” Asadi said.

Still, Asadi said the effort is not over. She and others working in health care are continuing to work hard to keep people healthy during the COVID pandemic.

“Throughout this whole time not only has Dr. Asadi done and gone over and above in serving the community with the vaccinations and having the clinics, organizing the clinics, organizing volunteers, but the other thing (is) she still has a practice,” said District 2 Supervisor Josh Pedrozo.