Vaccine reluctance & General COVID Discussion

Employers only have to accommodate religious beliefs. Not others. Clarifying whether it is religious or really political is an obligation. Deviation in this matter, compared to all other vaccines, implies the belief is either not sincere or not religious.
Employers will have a lot to deal with exempted personnel, so it is not merely a question of them choosing to forgo restaurants

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Then she (the anti-vaccine nurse) died, ā€œBut [her brother] got his first shot the day after his sister died.ā€ Seems like an example of ā€œseeing is believingā€.

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Which is what it takes for many. For whatever reason they canā€™t learn from othersā€™ (outside of their personal circle) mistakes. They have to make their own.

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Even if itā€™s true that at some points in history some hospitals have their ICU beds filled up with flu patients, how is it not interesting news that ICUs are full and in places all over the country, other patients canā€™t get emergency treatment, hospitals are reducing some services and people are having to postpone surgeries? Iā€™d say thatā€™s extremely interesting, important, and disturbing news.

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Define religion.

Belonging to a church and following its tenets. ā€œChurch of Meā€ doesnā€™t count.

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This is what I meant when I said earlier (maybe it was on a different thread) that MAb are in short supply and would be prioritized in some states. Much like ECMO and ventilators in areas that are in short supply. Certain things such as age are important in the latter. For MAbs, the point is to try to keep people out of the hospital to decrease the stress on the system. Who make up the majority of the hospitalized? Unvaccinated. It is not right but doctors canā€™t be judges and need to treat everyone equally. Unless society comes together to agree to triage differently, this is where we are right now. Unvaccinated should have to pay such heavy financial penalties right now in my opinion. Make them go bankrupt. The fact that an anti-mask, anti-vaxx otherwise healthy 25 year-old person can get MAbs before a 60 year-old vaccinated transplant patient who is doing everything they can to protect themselves is just wrong. Wrong wrong wrong.

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Nothing of the kind. Was referring to the CDC and other studies which most here should know about. It was the finding of similar viral loads between vaxed and unvaxed that spooked the CDC and prompted them to re-recommend masking.

Given the significant uptick in infections from Delta, itā€™s likely that both are spreading the virus (though the burden of infection, hospitalization and death fall mostly on unvaccinated). What isnā€™t observed so much is individual behavior. An unvaxed person who is following other Covid precautions isnā€™t going to be a threat to others. A vaxed person with Delta who is hanging out in crowds or large group settings without a mask will be.

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Well in the US it does count. No one has to belong to a ā€˜recognizedā€™ religion, and no religion has to have a certain number of members to count as a religion. Iā€™m not into faith healing but I have no right to say how others act or believe.

If we hold everyone to the tenants or donā€™t allow them to claim to be a member, churches are going to be pretty empty. Very few follow every rule of a religion or even accept every belief. I donā€™t accept a lot of the tenants of Catholicism, but still consider myself to be catholic. There are millions of people who consider themselves christians, jews, or muslims but do not follow the tenants of any one religious organization. Yep, they are ā€œchurch of Meā€.

If all opinions and religious objections are not going to be accepted, then none should be and there should not be a religious exception. One is not better or more deserving than another.

All opinions are not religious beliefs, and claiming they are doesnā€™t help. It is too bad for those few who really do have sincere religious objections, as the pretenders will crowd them out and make companies less likely to offer accomodations.

Medical Lad needs to look back to the 2017-18 flu season. For news outlets sharing ā€œmisinformationā€ from that time period: Hospitals Overwhelmed by Flu Patients Are Treating Them in Tents | TIME

Here is additional information to help with this issue: Even in most well-developed countries, ICU beds are often close to capacity, and it is likely that in a severe influenza pandemic many patients who require a ventilator may not have access to one. Preparing intensive care for the next pandemic influenza | Critical Care | Full Text

And this: Estimates suggest that up to 10% of patients hospitalized with influenza will be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

ETA forgot this: ā€œYou cannot be perfectly prepared for any large pandemic, whether flu or otherwise,ā€ Schaffner said. ā€œOur nation is tight on hospital beds. Intensive care unit facilities are finite, ventilators are finite, the staff that is knowledgeable about managing patients on ventilators is finite, so if we were to be hit in the United States and around the world with a major new pandemic influenza virus, I think our medical care facilities would be very, very challenged.ā€ Bad flu seasons test US hospitals

From CDC, number of hospitalizations that season (Dec-May so about 6 months): 810,000 which is approximately a third of hospitalizations during our 18-month pandemic so far. Canā€™t find ICU count from that year; perhaps someone can dig it up.

Medical Lad probably noticed that incidence of flu was understandably low last season. This summer, of course, pediatric units in several states were filled up with RSV patients; this is typically a winter bug but the incidence was delayed due to masking and social distancing measures over the academic year.

I read that we are really fine on beds and ventilators, but it is the staff that is the big issue. Most modern hospitals can convert any room into one where a vent can be used and monitored, but covid patients need so much care that they canā€™t take any more patients because they just donā€™t have the trained staff.

I was at the doctor yesterday discussing a minor, elective surgery. She said elective surgeries havenā€™t been cancelled or prioritized yet and she didnā€™t expect they would be; this was at a big, urban hospital. On the news I hear that they are ā€˜worriedā€™ about ICU beds at this hosp, but that they havenā€™t turned people away yet.

And, unlike with flu season, the pandemic doesnā€™t seem to have an end in sight for the staff. They get a bit of a breather in between outbreaks, but thatā€™s it. Clearly a continual over-taxing of the healthcare system risks further bad outcomes for those with Covid - that alone should prompt most to consider getting vaccinated!

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I watched Fridayā€™s FDA meeting, and that is also one of the reasons why they are recommending the booster as well. Makes sense that as immunity wanes, more vaxxed folks will be getting and spreading. Also, not all states are even tracking vaxxed cases, and weā€™re still not really doing any decent contact tracing, so not sure how we can say with surety how much spread is due to vaxxed vs unvaxxed. I donā€™t consider myself safe around anyone, so I am living life as I did last year, masked and distanced no matter who Iā€™m around.

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Look, itā€™s not right to use that story one way or the other here, since that patient actually was airlifted because he required specialized care not available at his local hospital. A spokesperson for Cullman Regional Medical Center, who declined to give specifics of Ray DeMoniaā€™s case, citing privacy concerns, confirmed to NPR that he was transferred from the hospital but said the reason was that he required ā€œa higher level of specialized care not availableā€ there.
An Alabama Man Dies After Being Turned Away From 43 Hospitals At Capacity : Coronavirus Updates : NPR The family is distraught and was shocked to find a lack of ICU beds. They lost their loved one. We donā€™t know the details of this sad story.

I have no idea what Fox News has to say about this or any ICU issue. You seem to be more knowledgable there.

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If the flu has the potential of filling up ICU beds during years when it gets bad, imagine what happens if we get a bad flu season when the ICU beds are already full of COVID-19 patients.

COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU tend to stay longer than influenza patients admitted to the ICU. So one COVID-19 patient consumes more ICU space than one influenza patient on average.

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If Covid does indeed become endemic, then hospitals may have to start thinking creatively about their beds and staffing. The additional time required does take a toll on human and physical resources. Perhaps there can be a ā€œCovid unitā€ (similar to a cardiac unit) set aside which can serve as overflow in a bad flu year but assist Covid patients going forward. As time goes on the population will build up natural resistance but in the meantime there will likely continue to be a draw on hospital resources.

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If you were entering the healthcare field, would this be the area that you might be interested in? Not me! Iā€™m sure there are plenty of selfless folks who would be willing to step up, but seeing the exhaustion in those currently serving these patients, I wonder how many might actually choose this area of focus in the future.

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Well, hereā€™s what a friend said. She lives in the south:

ā€œMy husband told me the hospital was putting beds with screens around them in the halls for patients. No more beds available in rooms. In his 35 years, he has never experienced this before. Stay healthy everyone!ā€

So thereā€™s one story for you. Worse than the flu.

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The average life expectancy in the US dropped last year, the first drop since WWII. Pretty sure weā€™ve had the flu since WWII. (Iā€™m in agreement with you btw)

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