Dr. Nirav Shah Gets Emotional When Thanking Mainers and Wife During Final COVID Briefing

It was a little bit like the end of an era on Wednesday when Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah gave his final briefing on COVID-19. As usual, he updated Mainers on the current COVID-19 situation here in the State, which is generally good, and then got a bit emotional when he went to thank his wife and the people of Maine:

I'd also like to take a second to thank my wife Kara, for keeping our family together, for keeping me sane, and for keeping me and our dog alive. We all relied on someone during the pandemic, and for me, that was her.

Finally, I want to thank the people of Maine in one last way. For welcoming me and my family to our adopted home state. You know, we've lived in Maine for two years now, which means that one of every four days that I've lived in Maine, I've spent talking with Maine people about COVID-19. I don't know most of you but I feel like I do. The most meaningful piece of this to me is the fact that someone new to Maine, a guy from another state who's only been here for two years could come to be viewed as someone to tune into. To me, that says a lot more about the character of Maine people than it does about me. Thank you all very much.

After speaking, Governor Mills thanked him for all he has done for Maine during the pandemic, and presented him with two tubes of glitter that she says she got from her granddaughter. Shah once compared COVID to glitter in one of his briefings saying when you spill glitter in your basement you'll find it weeks later in your attic, but have no idea how it got there.

Governor Mills also presented Dr. Shah with a 12-pack of Diet Coke since he is such a fan of the drink.

You can watch the entire briefing here.

The one thing I will always remember about Dr. Shah is how he could take a briefing about a very serious pandemic and lighten the mood and you wouldn't even see it coming. Remember when he Rick Rolled everyone watching the briefing when he was talking about contact tracing and did it with a straight face?

Thank you Dr. Shah for everything you have done for Mainers during the pandemic and for being the voice that helped put our minds at ease to help us get through to where we are today.