Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #88

[roche.analisa]

For some reason, to add, I'm more in the camp of the AstraZeneca right now.. as tried and true as to vaccine types vs. new mRNA by Moderna and Pfizer. It could be the best... but I'm old school.

RSBM

My FIL is a brilliant biochemist. He wondered out loud on a call the other day if an RNA vaccine might cause long-term autoimmune problems. MOO.

 

[MsArk]

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of lawmakers outlined a temporary $908 billion coronavirus relief proposal on Tuesday, far less than Democrats had hoped for, aimed at breaking a stalemate that has persisted for months.

The proposal, which includes more unemployment benefits, must still get the approval of Republican and Democratic leadership and is designed to include elements that will satisfy both parties. It doesn’t include some popular provisions, like another round of direct payments to families, and lasts through March 31.

Bipartisan group in Congress pushes $908 billion Covid-19 relief bill
——————————————————
My heart breaks for the thousands of families struggling to pay rent and buy food much less buy a Christmas gift for their children. It is depressing but I will definitely donate and/or chose an angel from the Salvation Army Christmas tree. It is more important now than ever to be generous this year.

 

[pocketaccent]

Frontline has some documentaries that will stir your soul.

Welcome to our forum, ParkerParky!

 

[mickey2942]

Internal Documents Detail Who VA Will Vaccinate First

Of course, high risk employees first. So much for veteran centered care.

 

[MsArk]

Internal Documents Detail Who VA Will Vaccinate First

Of course, high risk employees first. So much for veteran centered care.

Admittedly I am saying this is very little knowledge of the VA health system but to be fair, it would be fruitless with no/few physicians and nurses.

 

[10ofRods]

More than 30 people in Meck County reinfected with COVID-19, health officials say

“Thirty-four people in Mecklenburg County have been reinfected with COVID-19, according to the county’s public health department.

This means each individual has had two documented positive tests more than three months apart. Health officials said they started tracking this at the end of August.”

That's not good news but it is exactly the kind of thing we are waiting to find out about. I would wager that these people had a milder case of COVID to begin with, unless they are all very elderly and have immune issues. I'd sure like to know if their second case was also mild.

The implications for the asymptomatic transmission of COVID are even more grim, if true, as many people relax their safety precautions once they've had COVID one time.

 

[musicaljoke]

Admittedly I am saying this is very little knowledge of the VA health system but to be fair, it would be fruitless with no/few physicians and nurses.

We know where the nurses and physicians will be at vaccination time. They will be up to their eyeballs trying to support patients with covid. They are not going to be the ones to administer the vaccines, imo

 

[10ofRods]

RSBM

My FIL is a brilliant biochemist. He wondered out loud on a call the other day if an RNA vaccine might cause long-term autoimmune problems. MOO.

TBF, there are people who have long-term autoimmune problems with the adenovirus vectored vaccines as well. It's true there's more study on them, but there are documented concerns as well.

I figure all the vaccines will have similar concerns. The adenovirus vector vaccine issues do not tend to affect immune-normal people (and I doubt the RNA based ones will, either).

IOW, trigger a human's immune response through a vaccine will always have side effects and difficulties. The chances of any one of us having a severe issue (as compared to getting COVID) are very small.

We know where the nurses and physicians will be at vaccination time. They will be up to their eyeballs trying to support patients with covid. They are not going to be the ones to administer the vaccines, imo

I think there are nurses currently employed outside of hospital care who will step up to deliver (for example, nursing professors and newly minted RN's - if a region has nursing schools). I am not sure what the requirements are for administering the vaccine (I got my flu shot at a drugstore - was the person an RN? No idea - but if she was, she would be the type of person who would be available).

But the logistics will surely be complicated.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Taylor Nichols, MD
@tnicholsmd

He came in by ambulance short of breath. Already on CPAP by EMS. Still, he was clearly working hard to breathe. He looked sick. Uncomfortable. Scared.

As we got him over to the gurney and his shirt off to switch a a hospital gown, we all noticed the number of Nazi tattoos. 1/

He was solidly built. Older. His methamphetamine use over the years had taken its usual toll and his teeth were all but gone.

The swastika stood out boldly on his chest. SS tattoos and other insignia that had previously been covered by his shirt were now obvious to the room. 2/

“Don’t let me die, doc.” He said breathlessly as the RT switched him over from CPAP by EMS to our mask and machine.

I reassured him that we were all going to work hard to take care of him and keep him alive as best as we could. 3/

All of us being a team that included a Jewish physician, a Black nurse, and an Asian respiratory therapist.

We all saw. The symbols of hate on his body outwardly and proudly announced his views. We all knew what he thought of us. How he valued our lives.

Yet here we were, working seamlessly as a team to make sure we gave him the best chance to survive that we could. All while wearing masks, gowns, face shields, gloves. The moment perfectly captured what we are going though as healthcare workers as this pandemic accelerates. 5/

We exist in cycle of fear and isolation. Fear of getting sick on the front lines. Fear of bringing a virus home and exposing our families. Fear of the developing surge of patients. Fear of losing our colleagues. Fear of not having what we need to take care of patients. 6/

And isolation because we don’t want to be responsible for spreading the virus, knowing that we are surrounded by it on a daily basis. Isolation because no one else can truly understand this feeling, these fears, the toll of this work. But we soldier on. 7/

Unfortunately, society has proven unwilling to listen to the science or to our pleas. Begging for people to take this seriously, to stay home, wear a mask, to be the break in the chain of transmission. 8/

Instead, they’ve called the pandemic a hoax, called us liars and corrupt, told us we are being too political by worrying about patients dying and trying to save lives.

They’ve stopped caring about our lives, our families, our fears, worried only about their own. 9/

He was already on high respiratory support and still working hard to breathe so I asked him about his code status and if he would want to be intubated, knowing that was all but inevitable and before the hypoxia made him more confused and unable to answer. 10/

He said that if a breathing tube was the only way he could survive, he wanted us to do everything we could. So we would. We were out of other options by this point, so we prepared. 11/

I’ve faced these situations countless times since medical school. Not the intubation - which is routine at this point for me and my team. The swastikas. The racist patients. Every single time I feel a bit shaken, but I went into this job wanting to save lives... 12/

... and every single time I’ve been able to smoothly and quickly move though those emotions to do so. “They came here needing a doctor, and dammit Taylor, you’re a doctor” is a mantra I’ve repeated to myself when I feel like my empathic core wanes. 13/

As I stepped out of the room to gear up for a high risk procedure and grab equipment, I checked my PPE. I had my N95, face shield, gown, gloves. Was I safe? Was my team safe? I pause to check and make sure I had all my equipment and backups if needed. 14/

I run through the meds and plan with the nurse and RT. I pause. I see the SS tattoo and think about what he might think about having Jewish physician taking care of him now, or how much he would have cared about my life if the roles were reversed. 16/

For the first time, I recognize that I hesitated, ambivalent.

The pandemic has worn on me, and my mantra isn’t having the same impact in the moment. All this time soldiering on against the headwinds, gladiators in the pit.

And I realize that maybe I’m not ok. End/

https://twitter.com/tnicholsmd/status/1333391178738274305

Thanks SoCal.... I tried to read the whole article in the San Fran Chronicle site...but I guess I have reached my limit....If you can read it, is there anything else in that article?? Thanks.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Here is a minute of happiness. We welcomed Victorians - and people stuck in Victoria - back to our state today. First time in many months since they have been allowed to be here, or to leave Victoria.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=398478034834718

(Video posted by my state Premier. The cases of beer at the end - our main brewery gave every incomer a case of beer if they wanted it )

Wonderful!!! snif. snif.

 

[SouthAussie]

I think there are nurses currently employed outside of hospital care who will step up to deliver (for example, nursing professors and newly minted RN's - if a region has nursing schools). I am not sure what the requirements are for administering the vaccine (I got my flu shot at a drugstore - was the person an RN? No idea - but if she was, she would be the type of person who would be available).

But the logistics will surely be complicated.

My DD said the other day that she thinks they will invite retired nurses to be involved in vaccinating everyone, as well as medical students of all varieties. There will be a little training involved, but most of these people are attuned to probable requirements.

 

[SouthAussie]

Almost 100,000 people are hospitalised in the US from coronavirus, a record high

Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Stephen Hahn, was summoned to the White House on Tuesday to explain why no vaccine has yet been approved

Top public health official Anthony Fauci said the US was “not in a good place”

268,045 people have died

At Mercy Hospital Springfield in Missouri, a mobile morgue has been put into use again

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune had 10.5 pages of obituaries on 15 November

Rhode Island opened two field hospitals accommodating 900 beds combined

New York City reopened a field hospital last week on Staten Island

Wisconsin has a field hospital in West Allis ready

In Worcester, Massachusetts, a 250-bed field hospital is on standby

US hospitals fill with 100,000 Covid-19 cases amid fear of pre-Christmas surge

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Frontline has some documentaries that will stir your soul.

Welcome to Websleuths!

 

[Betty P]

Internal Documents Detail Who VA Will Vaccinate First

Of course, high risk employees first. So much for veteran centered care.

Employees at department nursing homes and its 25 Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders Centers would receive the first batch of vaccines, followed by veterans at those facilities.

After vaccinating its employees and patients at long-term care sites—more than 105,000 veterans receive long-term care through VA—the department under the draft plan would move, in successive order, to inoculate staff in emergency departments, COVID-19 intensive care units and COVID-19 non-intensive care units. Employees in “other congregate living settings” and veterans over the age of 85 would then receive vaccines from VA.

After that, it gives vaccines to the small groups of people who are critical to manage the COVID response. After that, it gives vaccines to other veterans who aren't in COVID areas, aren't high risk.

 

[nightowl1975]

Internal Documents Detail Who VA Will Vaccinate First

Of course, high risk employees first. So much for veteran centered care.

It seems to me if we want the veterans to receive health care at all, it would be prudent to have health care workers available to care for them. The entire premise of health care for veterans sort of falls apart if we run out of health care workers.

 

[margarita25]

My DD said the other day that she thinks they will invite retired nurses to be involved in vaccinating everyone, as well as medical students of all varieties. There will be a little training involved, but most of these people are attuned to probable requirements.

I saw something yesterday which said they were calling nurses out of retirement / note to follow up / busy atm.

 

[Betty P]

Just got a call from our city's emergency response line. We're having heavy snows and the power is out in a lot of homes. The city is opening up "warming centers" for people whose power is out.

What a mess, having to deal with this when we're already experiencing a huge COVID 19 wave.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I saw something yesterday which said they were calling nurses out of retirement / note to follow up / busy atm.

def the case in NYC...
I certainly expect this to be the norm...

 

[drama_farmer]

Kentucky plans to use CVS/Walgreens to distribute the vaccine

Beshear: First batch of COVID-19 vaccine set to arrive in Kentucky within weeks

 

[gngr~snap]

I have several friends that I went to school with for all 12 years, who still are saying that it's all media hype, no big deal, "just the flu" and the numbers being reported are inflated or false being reported as COVID.
One currently has COVID, as does his father in a nursing home, whom he recently visited after being unable to see him for 8 months. He is scared and bith are very sick now.
Sadly, another one of them was admitted for COVID 5 days ago.
She is no longer with us.
The same people who continued to try and argue with others about masks being required at stores and complaining that they can't go to concerts like they used to all because of some conspiracy.
I think to myself, well maybe if you had worn the mask and used a little common sense...
I do believe that I will hear of more cases with the people I know who have been carrying on as if there wasn't any pandemic.
I guarantee my schoolmate who passed never thought she would catch it, be hospitalized or end up dying. Now I am very concerned for her family as well. They had quite a gathering over Thanksgiving, but will not be having a funeral service any time in the near future.
It's so sad. People tried to reason with them!
-sigh
MOO