Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

Just want drop a couple stories here for people on both sides of the vax issue. Do with it what you will.

I just released to long term rehab a 42 yo male with no previous significant medical history other than obesity. Not morbidly obese but fat. He had been in our care since 7/30 for COVID. He was not vaccinated. He was happy to be alive since he had ended up in an induced coma on a vent with tracheotomy for 2 weeks during his stay. He had 2 chest tubes on either side because, as happens quite often, he got two pneumothoraxes when the vent pressures had to be turned up so that his lungs could be ventilated enough to keep him alive. He is now on dialysis for the rest of his life because his kidneys failed due to vassopressers we had to use to keep his blood pressure high enough to keep him from coding. And because pressers shunt blood to the patients core vital organs blood doesn’t get to the extremities very well. As a result tissue starts dying, and in the case of this gentleman it’s going to cause him to have a double foot amputation. He has not however lost any mental capacity and is fine in that regard except that now he’s understandably suffering from depression due to his ordeal. He also has a hole in his throat from the trach and has to cover it up to help him speak.

I have other similar stories like the non vaxxed 40 YO body builder who went through a similar ordeal and is on ECHMO now and septic with about a 30% chance of making it.

I tell these stories not be dramatic or morbid but rather for people to understand that surviving COVID doesn’t always mean you just go back to your normal life. Thankfully these type of cases are not the norm but there are more than enough of them that it should be just one more thing (besides death of course) to consider when deciding whether or not to get vaccinated. In my opinion based on hundreds of first hand observations, not getting vaccinated is a very, very expensive roll of the dice.

 

Ive had 2 vaccines and a booster, as has my wife. So have my kids. Most of my relatives have been vaxed. None of us has any material side effects. I'm just not scared of a vaccine, at all. It is just crazy to me that all of a sudden people who have been fine with vaccines all of their life are afraid of this one, even though there is no evidence to any material occurance of danger. At this point billions of doses have been given out.

Sure one can always come up with hypotheticals and create unanswered questions, but on the scale of risks we choose to live with, in my mind the risk of a vaccine is small. Just another of hundreds of shots I've received in my life. It doesn't even cross my mind. It doesn't move the needle. I just can't understand how people perceive it as a big risk and decide to make avoiding it the hill they want to die on (sometimes literally)

 

I really hope people listen to you. Obviously you have first hand experience, and clearly you aren't on the side of the political aisle that some think can't be trusted at all.

Good point that "the chance of dying is low" doesn't really represent the risk involved.

 

So you made it up? Gotcha.
I mean lord knows these cops could not be good people.

 

I mean, come on. It is a pretty obvious PR ploy. Are they still out there feeding the homeless today, or did they only do it the day that they were doing a bunch of other PR?

 

Hmmm. Not so sure. It appears it has made you a dead ringer for a distraught Jeremy Foley.

 

So people who do one day events are fake because they don't do it for two days? I'll tell the folks at the Jimmy V auction to hand it up!

 

Very plausible explanation is the virus is going to spread unless you have natural immunity. The vaccine for sure helps limit the hospitalizations/deaths. Covid is going to run it's course.

 

People that do one day events when the press is focused on them? Yep, largely fake. Right before they did that, they went and did some obviously organized event where they brought their hats or boots to the headquarters for the press as well. Sorry that you desperately want to identify with the people engaged in PR, but it doesn't mean that they aren't purely engaged in PR.

And I assume the V foundation continues to help fund cancer research on the days where the cameras aren't focused on them, although certainly some of the people at the auction when it is are likely engaged in PR.

 

You were so close to having a good post. Come on, you can do it. Just stop at the first sentence. Make someone produce an antibody test. Easy cheesey.

 

You contribute a lot of dispassionate, real world information about how this disease looks from someone working in the hospital with patients. You are not a "force the vaccine on people" type poster, but simply share real world observations for other to discuss.

I very much appreciate everything that you add to these discussions.

 

I’m fine with that. No issue.Just don’t trust self reporting. They lie.

 

how many donuts do you get for $150 and were any offered up to us?

 

My sister has good amount of these stories and yet my Step-Dad still has trouble believing the severity of COVID. He is still on the side that thinks we are being lied to about the numbers and the horrible (potential) effects of getting COVID. Thankfully he let us bully him into getting vaxxed.

 

Given that they are unvaccinated, I just hope they aren't spreading it to the homeless people or getting it spread to them.

 

Yeah, if they wanted to help, maybe they should operate a vaccine clinic for the homeless.

 

The UK has more total cases per million than France and far more total cases per million than Germany. There should be more natural immunity in the UK than the other 2 countries. But the current 7 day average for the UK is about 678. For France it's 74 and for Germany it's 137.

 

I agree with this 100%. But in my head, I still read everything slightlyskeptic says in a George Costanza voice.

 

Theres a lot of ambiguity in terms of natural immunity, if you have it and how much. I would say require a doctor certification that you’ve had Covid within the last year (or 6 months) and are expected to have natural immunity over the next year (or 6 months). Then give doctors guidance as to what constitutes natural immunity. The exception only lasts for a fixed time frame (year or 6 months).

 

Natural immunity likely wears off just like vaccine immunity does. Someone who had covid a year ago may well be more at risk of getting it again than someone who was vaccinated 2 months ago.