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Jean Joseph’s patient is struggling against him.
The respiratory therapist is in one of 19 small rooms ringing Roseland Community Hospital’s busy emergency department, each occupied by a COVID case, each room’s air negative-pressurized to keep droplets of infection from wafting back into the ER. Joseph is trying to draw blood from the man’s right wrist to get a reading of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.
But the 79-year old twists and writhes.
“He was fighting with me,” said Joseph, coming out, peeling off a yellow plastic protective gown. “When you get COVID, you cannot function. The carbon dioxide makes you lethargic and confused.”
“Cannot function,” “lethargic” and “confused” are apt terms to describe our national response to COVID, a roiling, contradictory crisis: medical disaster intermixed with scientific triumph. The selfless, exhausted labors of skilled doctors and nurses here, butting up against selfish, stubborn public resistance and ignorance there. A roller coaster disaster of peaks and valleys, with no end in sight as our nation finishes its second year fighting COVID-19.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:01 am
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Republicans want this to be our permanent reality
Comment by SWIL_Voter Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:04 am
Humans are stupid. Fight against science & those who are willing to help. Sadly, the medical system jn America is likely to suffer long term consequences with staff quitting, burnout, ptsd & loss of faith in fellow humans.
Comment by sal-says Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:11 am
What is so frustrating is that the vast majority of this is preventable. Did anyone else catch FOX’s line of questioning to WH Press Secretary yesterday? They’re purposefully confusing people into thinking the vaccines don’t work.
Comment by Just Me 2 Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:17 am
I haven’t heard anything regarding vaccine 2.0 specifically targeted to , in this case, Omicron. How fast can they crank those out? I’m getting worried about being able to continue to evade the virus, and the spreaders.
Comment by PublicServant Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:32 am
@PublicServant: The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines offer good protection against Omicron, and those plus a booster even better. The problem now isn’t so much better vaccines as more people willing to take them.
But if you’re waiting for something better, the US Army has been working on a “super-vaccine” designed to be effective against all coronaviruses–not just COVID-19, but SARS and others, too. That’s still in the early stages of testing, but it looks good so far: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/12/us-army-creates-single-vaccine-effective-against-all-covid-sars-variants/360089/
Comment by Benjamin Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:50 am
I suppose I should clarify that the current vaccines do a good job of preventing death and hospitalization, not necessarily infection. I can see that maybe you’d like something that gives better defense against infection, even if mild; COVID is a nerve-wracking disease to have even when it just manifests as the sniffles.
Comment by Benjamin Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:53 am
==But if you’re waiting for something better, the US Army has been working on a “super-vaccine” designed to be effective against all coronaviruses–not just COVID-19, but SARS and others, too. That’s still in the early stages of testing, but it looks good so far==
Hopefully that’s ready later this year. In the meantime, I hope a second booster is permitted by spring, when 6 months after my booster has passed. And maybe even add the ordinary flu and common cold to the super vaccine chemicals too.
Comment by NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:53 am
Public Servant, Pfizer by March. Moderna by autumn. Google is your friend
Comment by very old soil Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 9:56 am
Well, I doubt that Google is truly my friend, but thanks for the tip. It’s very encouraging news. I hope everyone gets vaxxed, and stays that way.
Comment by PublicServant Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 10:26 am
If your developing vaccines for variants that are around now, your looking in the rear view mirror. This is feel good stuff and will do nothing to prevent the next strain.
Comment by Blue Dog Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 10:54 am
@NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham: Many of the variants of the common cold are also coronaviruses, so that supervaccine should provide protection against them, too. Flu is a different beast, though I’ve heard that the vaccine makers are planning to combine seasonal flu shots with future COVID boosters.
Comment by Benjamin Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 11:05 am
Hey Blue Dog,
I finally figured out who you remind me of the most:
https://youtu.be/2KvNt5NG-GM
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 11:49 am
@BD- you are correct- if we are working on solutions for current variants-that is not great. But trying to address corona viruses as a category is future forward.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 12:32 pm
America needs a morale check…how low will we go?
When one hits bottom the only place to go is up… but only if up is still there…beware.
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Jan 11, 22 @ 12:36 pm