people are still getting sick and dying

Just in time for the 4th of July, the numbers of individuals with COVID is on the rise in our part of the country. In particular, in the Springfield Missouri area, the hospitals are having to divert patients because of the numbers of people hospitalized with COVID. All of this is being attributed to low vaccination rates and the Delta variant. A majority of those affected are under 30 years of age. 

This week I took care of a young person in their early 20's. Previously very healthy. He is on a ventilator with lungs so badly damaged by COVID that he is also on ECMO - tubes the size of garden hoses taking the blood out of his body, re-oxygenating it, and returning it to his body, all with the hope that his body will recover to the point where he is able to once again exchange oxygen normally in his lungs. The hard fact is that 40-50% of people who go on ECMO recover. That means the other 50-60% die. I don't know which category he will ultimately end up in. What I do know is his parents were heartbroken at the site of their son, seen on an iPad screen, so critically ill, unable to communicate with them at all, tubes coming out of every part of his body. The hope that the days of doing those visits  for families were over, was premature. 

All of this is to say that if you are NOT vaccinated, you should still be operating as you did at the height of the pandemic. Wearing a mask indoors as well as outdoors when you are in a crowd, maintaining social distancing, washing your hands all the time, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces. 

What do you do about family members who are not vaccinated? Tell them it's not too late to get a vaccine. This is hard stuff and we are not out of the woods yet. My intent is not to threaten, bully, or scare people into getting vaccines, just to talk about what I am seeing - which is that people are still getting sick and dying. 

Comments

[Susan Maxwell Bjerke]

I suggested to my dental hygienist, who told me she had had lymphoma 5 years ago and was afraid to get the vaccine,that I hadn't seen people die from the vaccine, but did know folks who died from the disease. I'm so sad that people won't get their vaccinations. I didn't threaten..but I did cajole.

[Janet]

So many unnecessary illnesses and death because people are too stubborn to get vaccinated-at this point IMO its just selfish not to do so.

[Vicki in Michigan]

Thank you for continuing to share what can be an uncomfortable truth. Vaccines save lives.

[Chris Oliveira]

So sad that it has become a political statement to get the vaccine or not.

[Emie]

This is a good reminder, thank you Carol. I encourage vaccines to anyone who is open to listening. There are still a lot of myths circulating and educating people is priority #1. One particular friend of child bearing age believes the Covid vaccine settles in the ovaries affecting fertility. What does one do when education is ineffective?

[carol]

Emie: I have not found anything to be helpful with individuals who are firmly rooted in their beliefs and refuse to get vaccinated. "covid vaccine settling in the ovaries" is a new one to me.