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* The state peaked at 1,289 ICU beds in use on April 29th last year, then 1,224 ICU beds on November 25th, and 506 on April 25th this year. ICU bed usage is now at 487. We found out last year that ICU beds can be created fairly quickly. But after a year and a half of this, hospitals are dealing with extreme staff burnout, so finding nurses and doctors to actually staff those beds ain’t easy, especially with the American South burning with COVID. With that in mind, here’s NBC 5…
Thirty-seven Illinois counties and Chicago are now at “warning level” for intensive care unit bed availability, according to COVID-19 data from the state health department.
The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting that the following areas are experiencing limited ICU bed availability: Alexander, Bond, Boone, Carroll, Chicago, Clinton, Cook, DeKalb, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Lee, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Ogle, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, St. Clair, Stephenson, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, Whiteside, Williamson, Winnebago.
* Vice…
Since the start of the global pandemic, more police officers have died of COVID than all other causes combined in the line of duty. Just by the nature of their work, having to interact with the public on a near-daily basis, exposure to the virus is almost a certainty.
But despite the mounting death count, law enforcement officers in the country are simply not getting vaccinated. Their reluctance—whether over politics, retaliation for growing criticism toward their profession, or distrust for something as new as the COVID-19 vaccine—is putting themselves, and the communities they’re supposed to serve, at risk. And their bosses are running out of ways to convince them otherwise.
“In the profession as a whole, you generally find a lot of skepticism inside law enforcement,” Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant told VICE News. “Police officers are just overly cautious about things they don’t understand. They don’t move quickly into place without a lot of detail and a lot of information. That apprehension is shared throughout the profession.”
* Sun-Times…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday there “absolutely” will be a vaccine mandate for city employees — but the police union vowed to go to court to stop it. […]
Not on the same page with the mayor is Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, whose union represents rank-and-file Chicago police officers.
“It cannot be mandated. It’s that simple. Our members don’t want to be mandated to do anything like that,” Catanzara said Monday. “This vaccine has no studies for long-term side effects or consequences. None. To mandate anybody to get that vaccine, without that data as a baseline, amongst other issues, is a ‘Hell, no’ for us.”
* American Medical Association…
“The FDA has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the meticulously collected evidence from more than 100 million vaccinated Americans is clear: the vaccines we have to defeat COVID-19 are safe, effective, and the only way out of this pandemic.
“For months, physicians have advocated for vaccination against COVID-19, urging our patients to take the step that will save their lives and protect those closest to them. States have even offered numerous incentives – from lotteries with a chance to win a million dollars or scholarship money to cash prizes. Vaccine supply is ample, and for months, access has been easier.
“But these incentives have not gotten us where we need to be. With the highly transmissible and more virulent Delta variant wreaking havoc and emergency departments once again overwhelmed, physicians and all frontline health care workers need help. The way to regain the upper hand in this fight is requiring vaccinations – specifically vaccine mandates.
“The simple fact is unless a significant percentage of our population is vaccinated against COVID-19 – we could be stuck fighting this virus for many more months or even years to come. Now is the time for the public and private sectors to come together, listen to the science, and mandate vaccination.
“The AMA has robust policy on vaccine mandates - a tool that has been used across the U.S. and around the world for generations to defeat polio, measles, and other vaccine-preventable disease. And now, we urge similar mandates to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. Physicians and frontline health care workers have taken tremendous risks during this pandemic, and we continue today risking our own safety and well-being—putting our families at risk—to treat mostly unvaccinated people afflicted with COVID-19. Help us win this fight, follow science, and end this pandemic by requiring vaccination.”
* I’m hearing about lots of school quarantines these days, but I’m wondering if the mayor looked around before making this blanket statement…
“Our schools are safe. We have a mountain of evidence of that fact starting back in February of this year when we first opened elementary schools,” Lightfoot said at an unrelated news conference.
While it’s true that far more people are vaccinated now than in February, the delta variant wasn’t much of a thing in the spring. But it’s clearly hitting people hard these days.
* More…
* IHSA mask mandate enforcement policies: If the school is still on probation on the date of seeding (or the list of participant entry deadline) in that sport they will not be allowed to participate in the State Series. [More here.]
* Edward-Elmhurst, Amita requiring COVID-19 employee vaccinations: “We recognize that not everyone will agree with this decision,” said Mary Lou Mastro, Edward-Elmhurst’s CEO. “The ethical framework under which we operate, however, means that it is our responsibility to do good, and an individual’s right to autonomy ends when that person’s actions may harm others.”
* What does full Pfizer approval mean in suburbs? More vaccinations, work mandates and TV ads
* Will more Illinois residents get vaccinated now that Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has FDA approval?
* Faith leaders pray for hospitalized Rev. Jesse Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline: Jesse Jackson, who has Parkinson’s disease, received his first dose of the vaccine publicly in January to encourage the Black community and others to receive the immunization. His wife has not been vaccinated, according to longtime family spokesman Frank Watkins. He declined to elaborate Monday.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 11:38 am
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Region 5 (bottom of the state) has 1 ICU bed left out of 82, as of yesterday’s update. https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/hospitalization-utilization
Comment by Smalls Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 11:44 am
Shouldn’t local hospitals require vaccines for employees or at Least allow they are doctors and nurses to say if they are vaccinated or not?
Comment by Lucy Murphy Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 11:58 am
===Region 5 (bottom of the state)===
Lots of folks down there either go to Kentucky or places like Evansville, IN for hospitalization. But, yeah, not good.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:13 pm
= They don’t move quickly into place without a lot of detail and a lot of information. =
That’s a phrase I would *never* associate with police.
Comment by cover Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:16 pm
A (legit) quote from Martin Luther:
What else is the epidemic but a fire which instead of consuming wood and straw devours life and body? You ought to think this way: “Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.
Comment by Soccermom Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:18 pm
===Since the start of the global pandemic, more police officers have died of COVID than all other causes combined in the line of duty===
I witnessed many police officers take a very relaxed approach towards masking during interactions with the public but a lot of our communities never really made much of an effort to enforce public health mitigation strategies. I feel like a lot of those deaths were preventable.
Rich, our neighbors are in bad shape too. I think in the weeks ahead we’re going to start seeing transfers for ICU patients to hospitals that they’re not typically transferred to but we really need to be exploring a way to beef up available staff for ICU coverage. Either by implementing some emergency protocols, or someone might need to start following up with qualified people who left the workforce but are licensed or were licensed at some point.
===The Kentucky Hospital Association reports about a third of all hospital and ICU beds in the state are available, but Beshear said it doesn’t mean anything if there aren’t nurses and doctors to staff them.
“And again, a bed without a medical professional is just a bed,” he said. “That is not treatment.”
As of Thursday’s report, 481 people in Kentucky are in the ICU with COVID-19, and 242 are on ventilators. 1,708 people are in the hospital with COVID-19, which is also near a record for the Commonwealth.===
https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2021/08/19/kentucky-hits-record-for-icu-beds-taken-by-covid-19
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:30 pm
===Our members don’t want to be mandated…===
He could have just stopped there. Applies to literally any police issue.
Comment by Jibba Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:38 pm
“We don’t know long term effects”
Bunk. You shed the vaccine in 2 weeks, leaving antibodies behind. Any problems present in weeks. 30,000 in trials. 170 Mil vaccinated. We sure as hell know short term effects vs variant.
“No mandates til we have that data.” So the cop scientists will get back to us in 5 yrs? 10?
The cornerstone of law enforcement is evidence, not willful ignorance.
Comment by Langhorne Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:47 pm
==This vaccine has no studies for long-term side effects or consequences.==
Am I to assume John Catanzara studies virology in his spare time? John should stick to what he does best…sending offensive posts on social media.
Comment by Jocko Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:50 pm
Catanzara is a hypocrite.
Last week he blamed Mayor Lightfoot for Officer Frenchs’ murder. Daily Mail: “Chicago police union boss says the city’s mayor Lori Lightfoot is to blame for a deadly shooting which killed one cop and seriously-injured another.”
“John Catanzara, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge #7, told Fox News that Lightfoot’s tough on cops, soft on crime approach has emboldened criminals like the killer who shot and killed Ella French, 29, and blasted a bullet into her brain.”
I’m not sure how Mayor Lightfoot is “soft on crime.” She doesn’t catch criminals, it’s the police’s job. She doesn’t prosecute them or set bail. And she certainly didn’t tell Monte Morgan to shoot officer French during a routine traffic stop.
NPR reported May 8 Chicago police officers had 3200 cases of of covid-19. 4 passed away. The National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund lists 101 dead officers nationwide from COVID-19 compared with 87 from anything else, including gunfire, car accidents or other causes. If it weren’t for COVID-19, officer deaths were on track to be lower this year than last. From the officer down memorial page: “ COVID is the #1 killer of LEOs in 2020 and 2021. Getting vaccinated is just as important as wearing your vest and your seatbelt. Don’t wait any longer, please get vaccinated today to protect yourself, your family, and your fellow officers.”
So how about it Catanzara? Don’t you want to protect your officers? You’re so willing to blame other people for harming officer how about looking within.
Comment by 17% Solution Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:52 pm
-Jocko- you know what happens when you be assume, unless of course you’re clairvoyant then you can share what the long term studies show.
Comment by Erie Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:05 pm
===If the school is still on probation on the date of seeding (or the list of participant entry deadline) in that sport they will not be allowed to participate in the State Series.===
Freedom, amirite?
Sometimes the greater good means doing something for someone other than yourself.
Then again, if you cut off your nose to spite your face, no need to worry about that “mask-nose” issue on more than one front.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:45 pm
I spent 13 hours in the ER on Thursday with my 6 year old who got in a bicycle accident. Knocked out one of her permanent teeth. Dentist said there may have been a chance to save the tooth if we had been able to get in quicker. Ended up with stitches in 4 different places and had to call in the plastic surgeon for the trickiest ones in her gums. The waiting area had a curtain behind which the COVID symptom patients sat. Really great system we have where people can choose to get and spread a deadly contagious virus and then clog the healthcare line so innocent kids can’t get treatment and instead sit in dirty waiting rooms bleeding all over the place, and we’re helpless to do anything about it. This is the freedom we all love
Comment by SWIL_Voter Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:57 pm
Regarding mandates, the International Association of Fire Chiefs came out today supporting mandates for fire & EMS personnel:
https://www.iafc.org/press-releases/press-release/iafc-position-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-fire-and-ems-personnel
Erie, did you completely miss Langhorne comment? It took me all of 30 seconds to do a Google search and find an article discussing the vaccines and the body. Long story short, the vaccine trains your body to recognize and then it’s gone. “long term effects” is code for any excuse to remain anti-vax and sound like you have a legit concern.
https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/where-mrna-vaccines-and-spike-proteins-go
Comment by MyTwoCents Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 5:44 pm
A superspreader event is coming to Soldier Field courtesy of Kanye West:
https://herald-review.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/kanye-west-listening-party-at-soldier-field-will-have-no-covid-vaccine-test-requirement/article_745bfc53-d93e-51f5-90d7-c53e955d634d.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest
Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 7:39 pm