Coronavirus

[Pariah]

I have a nephew who DJs for large groups (weddings, etc.) pretty much every weekend. He's never been vaccinated because he doesn't feel it's that big a risk.

 

Well, guess what we learned this week? Yep, he got COVID. He was pretty sick last week, but he's doing better now.

 

But his newborn daughter--literally less than a month old--is now in the hospital with COVID. 

 

I don't know whether to be sad or angry.

[BarretWallace]

3 minutes ago, Pariah said:

I have a nephew who DJs for large groups (weddings, etc.) pretty much every weekend. He's never been vaccinated because he doesn't feel it's that big a risk.

 

Well, guess what we learned this week? Yep, he got COVID. He was pretty sick last week, but he's doing better now.

 

But his newborn daughter--literally less than a month old--is now in the hospital with COVID. 

 

I don't know whether to be sad or angry.

 

My vote would be "both."

[unclevlad]

13 minutes ago, Pariah said:

I have a nephew who DJs for large groups (weddings, etc.) pretty much every weekend. He's never been vaccinated because he doesn't feel it's that big a risk.

 

Well, guess what we learned this week? Yep, he got COVID. He was pretty sick last week, but he's doing better now.

 

But his newborn daughter--literally less than a month old--is now in the hospital with COVID. 

 

I don't know whether to be sad or angry.

 

I'd just go with sad.  I'm assuming your nephew is regretting his actions and choices far, far more strongly than you are.  His anger at himself is more than enough on that score.  

 

Hope everything works out there.

[Cygnia]

A bunch of us have decided we're not going to Origins this year again.  It's not safe. 😕

[Joe Walsh]

Yeah, it's about time for us to cancel our late-2021 plans. We had hope back at the beginning of the year that vaccines would get us to a better place by late this year. Bzzzt! Wrong again.

[Pariah]

3 hours ago, unclevlad said:

I'd just go with sad.  I'm assuming your nephew is regretting his actions and choices far, far more strongly than you are.  His anger at himself is more than enough on that score.  

 

You speak wisdom, friend. Thank you. 

[unclevlad]

10 hours ago, Cygnia said:

A bunch of us have decided we're not going to Origins this year again.  It's not safe. 😕

 

Got me to wondering.

 

Great American Beer Festival is going to have its competition and judging, but that's a much smaller number of people.  The show itself is cancelled.  Makes sense;  mask mandates are pointless when everyone's drinking.

 

8 hours ago, GM Joe said:

Yeah, it's about time for us to cancel our late-2021 plans. We had hope back at the beginning of the year that vaccines would get us to a better place by late this year. Bzzzt! Wrong again.

 

I was hoping that by now...the start of the school year...things would be closer to normal.  I'm still hopeful that the overall situation will improve;  with the vaccine formally approved, I expect large companies will require it, or implement punitive measures for those who decline it (without medical justification) then catch it.  Plus, vaccination doses delivered per day hit a nadir in mid July at about 500K per day;  it rebounded to about a million per day now.  It should be better, no question, but at least it *has* gotten better.  

[tkdguy]

I hope everything works out okay, Pariah.

[BarretWallace]

16 hours ago, Pariah said:

 

You speak wisdom, friend. Thank you. 

 

If I may, I'd like to retract my previous comment.  After thinking it through (I should really do that BEFORE I type something), I wouldn't be angry at anyone...angry that this is happening maybe, but not angry at anyone.  Above all else, I hope that your nephew gets through this, along with the rest of you.  That is by far the highest priority.  I don't know if you are a religious person, but I'll put you and yours in my prayers anyway, and hope that is taken well.  "Sh*t gets real" for me when I can put names and faces on an issue, even names and faces of people I don't really know and may never meet.  Take care of you and yours!

[unclevlad]

"Anger is always -- always -- just fear in disguise."  
Spider Robinson

 

 

 

[archer]

On 9/8/2021 at 11:10 AM, Pariah said:

I have a nephew who DJs for large groups (weddings, etc.) pretty much every weekend. He's never been vaccinated because he doesn't feel it's that big a risk.

 

Well, guess what we learned this week? Yep, he got COVID. He was pretty sick last week, but he's doing better now.

 

But his newborn daughter--literally less than a month old--is now in the hospital with COVID. 

 

I don't know whether to be sad or angry.

 

After having gone through this with a large number of different relatives, two who've have died in the last couple months, I don't think you can go wrong with "angry".

 

You can always transition to "sad" if you have unvaccinated relatives who get angry at you for not attending a funeral crowded with unvaccinated mourners.

[Joe Walsh]

17 hours ago, unclevlad said:

I'm still hopeful that the overall situation will improve;  with the vaccine formally approved, I expect large companies will require it, or implement punitive measures for those who decline it (without medical justification) then catch it.

 

Looks like Biden's giving companies a push on that: employers with 100+ employees will need to either make sure their employees are vaccinated or test them weekly. And employees at health care facilities that receive federal Medicare and/or Medicaid funding will need to be fully vaccinated.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-executive-branch-18fb12993f05be13bf760946a6fb89be

[Pariah]

I got a text today saying that the little girl is coming home. I'm relieved, to be sure, but also sad and a little frustrated, that it had to have happened at all. 

 

I'll confess that I'm also afraid that certain of the more reactionary elements in my wife's family will look at this as proof that COVID-19 is no big deal and that they don't need to get vaccinated. 

[unclevlad]

1 hour ago, Pariah said:

I got a text today saying that the little girl is coming home. I'm relieved, to be sure, but also sad and a little frustrated, that it had to have happened at all. 

 

I'll confess that I'm also afraid that certain of the more reactionary elements in my wife's family will look at this as proof that COVID-19 is no big deal and that they don't need to get vaccinated. 

 

Simple responses.

1.  "A condition requiring a trip to the hospital is ALWAYS a big deal."

2.  "ANY illness for a baby less than a month old isn't a big deal, it's a FREAKING CRISIS!"

3.  "So you'd be just fine if your young kid had to be hospitalized?"

 

What scares me is, there's a decent chunk out there, who wouldn't buy any of these.  THAT makes me want to scream.

Yes, it's anger.

And yes, it's fear.  And frustration.  And exhaustion.

[Lord Liaden]

 

 

 

[unclevlad]

A disturbing point to be sure..."she makes more at the gas station than as a CNA."  OK, I'm pretty sure CNA is the entry-level position on *that* track (not sure how it'd compare to EMT basic) but still...you'd figure that gas station/convenience store clerk slot would be pretty much bottom of the heap.  Might be a shift differential for late night, but doesn't seem like it'd be that much.....

[Lord Liaden]

Health-care professionals are among the jobs most people don't usually deal with unless and until they need them, so it's easy for them to underestimate their vital importance to society. You'd think that might have changed during COVID, but sadly, all the expressions of gratitude and support that the public have put out during the pandemic have almost never been accompanied by increased pay, reduced work hours, more hiring of staff, more protection for those in the front lines, or increased social and psychological support.

[Starlord]

[Cancer]

Actually, I have had measles, mumps, and rubella ... because I'm old enough to have been infected with each of them before the vaccines were developed, and I got the polio vaccination only a few years after Salk's breakthrough and the disease was still an object of near-supernatural dread.  I got measles when I was in kindergarten, and I think it would have killed me if not for mid-20th Century medicine.  I tell my students what it's like and what it does, because they don't know, and I think it is because we have lost the horror of the diseases that the anti-vaxx movement is tolerated, as opposed to being identified as a bunch of traitors to the species, and given the choice of get the shot or be shot.

[Pattern Ghost]

5 hours ago, unclevlad said:

OK, I'm pretty sure CNA is the entry-level position on *that* track (not sure how it'd compare to EMT basic)

 

I can tell you how the certifications play out a my hospital, at least. An EMT certification will let you be an ED Tech while a CNA will not. ED (Emergency Department) Techs make considerably more than CNAs and have more opportunities to get additional qualifications (drawing blood, running EKGs, etc.) to further boost their pay. An experienced tech can make more than a newbie nurse. However, ambulance medics (another opportunity for the EMT basic) don't get paid very well at all. Probably somewhere between the CNA and the tech. These are among the lowest barrier to entry direct patient care positions available. Most of our ED Techs are bright young folk who are accumulating clinical hours to help get into nursing school or PA school. Most our CNAs . . . not so much.

 

 

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9 hours ago, Pariah said:

I got a text today saying that the little girl is coming home.

 

I'm just going to focus on this part. I'm glad she's doing well.

[Matt the Bruins]

Yeah, regardless of how various people will react, that baby being home from the hospital and presumably over the worst is the most important thing. May she have no lingering ill effects!

[unclevlad]

I haven't looked at the world data much recently, but the US data...150K new cases, 1500 new deaths...prompted me to look at how the rates compared.

 

That's when I saw the situation in Peru.  There.......the death rate is currently at 1 person in 170.

 

And Peru's population isn't that small...33M+.  Yep...almost 200,000 dead.  

 

For contrast, the next worst is Hungary...1 person in 320.

[Cygnia]

[Lord Liaden]

Exactly. These instructions aren't some new tactic by the government. They've been around so long, they're practically folklore.

[pinecone]

On 9/8/2021 at 9:10 AM, Pariah said:

I have a nephew who DJs for large groups (weddings, etc.) pretty much every weekend. He's never been vaccinated because he doesn't feel it's that big a risk.

 

Well, guess what we learned this week? Yep, he got COVID. He was pretty sick last week, but he's doing better now.

 

But his newborn daughter--literally less than a month old--is now in the hospital with COVID. 

 

I don't know whether to be sad or angry.

I think a mix of both might be right.