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Corona Virus

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TobyC said:
The vaccine sounds kinda rough; "Participants in Moderna and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine trials told CNBC in September that they were experiencing high fever, body aches, bad headaches, daylong exhaustion and other symptoms after receiving the shots."
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That sounds like the vaccines are eliciting a strong immune response. I’ve heard similar things about the shingles vaccine. I’m in when it’s my turn.
 
beginish said:
That sounds like the vaccines are eliciting a strong immune response. I’ve heard similar things about the shingles vaccine. I’m in when it’s my turn.
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I'm thinking of getting batch 2 and seeing what the response are first with reactions and whatnot.. I mean even with the stated side effects I personally still think that's better than the alternative....
 
We’re getting hit harder than last time.... 150+ employees out at the “mothership” hospital and 3 nursing units are considered “hot spots” .... found out today that my manager’s husband is positive as well as a technician at the home site. First people that I know personally to be positive.... but my social circle is eeeeexxxxtttrreeeemllyyy small 🤦🏼‍♂️🤷‍♂️
 
Well, I'm not going to start posting here every day, but COVID has gone from a pot of sauce simmering on the stove to working up to a full boil, and everyone not wanting to step any closer because it feels like it could explode all over the kitchen any day.

I ran across a thread in a local neighborhood forum asking parents to please have their kids wear masks when they are at a skate park. Among the responses were still the comments about masks not working, if you wear your mask you shouldn't care what anyone else does, kids don't get COVID, on and on and on. I would think just watching video of refrigerator trucks being used as morgues and hearing that ICUs are full again should be enough. I guess not. I wish everyone could hear our regional command center calls now. We hear how many 10s of skilled care facilities are closed every day. Almost 100. The psych facilities that are closed. Hospitals that are having to transfer patients to other hospitals because they don't have any more staff. There is a glove supply issue in this country and a COVID outbreak in a glove manufacturing plant in Malasia now. We have ED nurses that are working 29 days straight, and there is no more staff in the country to hire because everyone is trying to get them. And this is all before the surges from the holidays hit.

I just can't fathom someone knowing all of this and still feeling that it's just too much trouble to not wear a mask. This is so much more than "you get sick and get over it now".

I haven't seen my parents since the summer and will experience my first Christmas in 48 years without seeing them. People gather with family and say "It's ok, they just live down the block" or "It's a small gathering, just family". The virus doesn't care that you're related. Please remember, that it really doesn't matter if they are family, if you spend time with people outside of your household and they spend time with people outside of yours, you are no longer living in "a pod".
 
I feel the greatest casualty of this pandemic will be the final unraveling of our shared basic assumptions and values as an organized culture.
 
NurseDave said:
Well, I'm not going to start posting here every day, but COVID has gone from a pot of sauce simmering on the stove to working up to a full boil, and everyone not wanting to step any closer because it feels like it could explode all over the kitchen any day.

I ran across a thread in a local neighborhood forum asking parents to please have their kids wear masks when they are at a skate park. Among the responses were still the comments about masks not working, if you wear your mask you shouldn't care what anyone else does, kids don't get COVID, on and on and on. I would think just watching video of refrigerator trucks being used as morgues and hearing that ICUs are full again should be enough. I guess not. I wish everyone could hear our regional command center calls now. We hear how many 10s of skilled care facilities are closed every day. Almost 100. The psych facilities that are closed. Hospitals that are having to transfer patients to other hospitals because they don't have any more staff. There is a glove supply issue in this country and a COVID outbreak in a glove manufacturing plant in Malasia now. We have ED nurses that are working 29 days straight, and there is no more staff in the country to hire because everyone is trying to get them. And this is all before the surges from the holidays hit.

I just can't fathom someone knowing all of this and still feeling that it's just too much trouble to not wear a mask. This is so much more than "you get sick and get over it now".

I haven't seen my parents since the summer and will experience my first Christmas in 48 years without seeing them. People gather with family and say "It's ok, they just live down the block" or "It's a small gathering, just family". The virus doesn't care that you're related. Please remember, that it really doesn't matter if they are family, if you spend time with people outside of your household and they spend time with people outside of yours, you are no longer living in "a pod".
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I have a neighbor who is an ER nurse and she’s saying the same thing about the hospitals here in the South Jersey/Philly area.

I don't understand the refusal to wear a mask. Even if you aren’t sold on the fact that it works, or how effective it is if it does work, is it really that much of a hassle to wear one?
 
Our next door neighbors both came down with it over the weekend and are having a tough time with it. We dropped off some dinner outside the door today, and are keeping fingers crossed since they’re both in the higher risk category.

I’m heading north tomorrow to pick up my older kid from college in Canada, where they are managing the pandemic far more aggressively than we are here. The 5 cases they’ve had in the dorms are a far cry from the 4000 they’ve had at Penn State. She walked into a clinic yesterday to get a covid test, in and out in 20 minutes and got her negative results this morning. I worry more about giving it to her and will be wearing a mask on the drive home. No hints at all that I or the rest of the family is infected, but I’m taking no chances.

what we’ve come to. SMH.
 
Here comes the vaccine! Someone asked if I'd be among the first to get it. We did find out the entire medical system is part of the initial "first responder" wave. Given that initial shipments will be a small fraction of what is needed for first responders in California, there is an internal tiered system of who goes first. Correctly so it's by exposure risk and prioritizes front line workers with even their managers taking a back seat. Good to see, and my department is far down on the list as it should be.
 
NurseDave said:
Here comes the vaccine! Someone asked if I'd be among the first to get it. We did find out the entire medical system is part of the initial "first responder" wave. Given that initial shipments will be a small fraction of what is needed for first responders in California, there is an internal tiered system of who goes first. Correctly so it's by exposure risk and prioritizes front line workers with even their managers taking a back seat. Good to see, and my department is far down on the list as it should be.
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Excellent. I am following this closely. No news from the VA yet.
 
Our governor added teachers to phase 1. Phase 1 is medical and first responders, then long term care facilities, and then teachers.

The teachers might include a plus 1 we heard. Fingers crossed. Looking like we might be innoculated sometime in January we are told.
 
There is talk here that after medical and such of trying to get essential workers like my wife in the next phase.. I guess we shall see....
 
Well, the post-Thanksgiving surge hit and has been staying pretty much at that level and slowly creeping up. We are currently at double our max COVID numbers from the surge in April. The ED has spilled over into a tent outside and the surgery waiting room. And our hospital has hit overall historic census numbers. Part of the issue is just getting patients out of the hospital. Not only do they stay longer, but many skilled nursing facilities are closed to admissions, so there is nowhere to send those that would normally be discharged there and they end up occupying inpatient beds which backs-up the ED.

I just finished my training to be on the team that allocates resources in the case that there aren't enough ventilators to go around. I think we'll run out of staff before we get to that point, but very unpleasant situations to even think about needing to be ready for.

And as we sit totally full, with staff working I don't know how much OT and skipping days off, we are fully aware people will still gather for Christmas and there will be another surge on top of this one. Personally, I'm totally frustrated because I won't be with my own family this year because of others that won't stay away from theirs and other public gatherings. I will end here because I can rant about that aspect forever. Just stay safe.
 
Blah..... pretty much sums it up. (Mainly because I only curse once every decade or so)

I think the next few months will be among the worse we have seen to date.
 
Our county and the counties around us are essentially at crisis levels in terms of hospital capacity and COVID patients make up 50% of those numbers (good news is technically we have plenty of ventilators available...just no place to put you if you really needed one) . Yes, COVID is the primary concern but our local hospitals have never been very good at keeping up with the volume this time of year anyway. Most years the hospitals in our area and those within a 50 mile radius run a full census anyway and the last 2 years Flu has caused a tented over flow, so while COVID is this year's reason the situation isn't really new. What IS new is that the hospital capacity is at max everywhere, there is no such thing as "I can get in the car and drive X miles and find a hospital with better care" I think THAT part is finally beginning to set in with the older crowed and the "regulars" who have lived in this area but relied on care outside the area. It's kind of like never being afraid of natural disasters because you have a generator then realizing that when the power goes out EVERYWHERE there isn't TV or CELL or RADIO because those people don't have power so your generator only leaves you with light to SEE how bad it really is. Another "positive" is the people getting COVID are not dying in large numbers, just hanging out in the hospitals on oxygen...apparently it looks like a cheap oxygen bar in the emergency room with tables lining the wall and people lined up slumped over with tubed up their nose.

Our small section of the county went from having very small COVID numbers just before Halloween to being one of the biggest hot spots on a per capita basis. There are a number of reasons this happened , I have my own guesses as to what the biggest drivers have been (based on personal experience and observation) but none of that really matters. Why? because if people won't take personal responsibility for their own safety in the face of an obvious threat, it is going to keep happening until the pain becomes SO unimaginable they can no longer stand it. It is human nature to keep doing what feels good until PAIN makes you stop.

My wife and I have always assumed responsibility for our own safety. We bought/made and wore masks and gloves as we felt necessary and avoided places or crowds etc. I work in a field that is deemed by both the State and Federal government to be essential and am granted the ability to keep my doors open. While I continue to work from my office I have not allowed visitors or walk-ins (I actively enforce Isolation procedures). As we watched our local test positivity numbers rise from below 8% to over 20-25% we decided as a family if we were to have any chance at all of having our few remaining family members gather for Christmas we ALL would have to get tested and employ quarantine measures as appropriate leading up to Christmas. With elderly family members and my kids now living on their own this meant coordinating a plan among us all, one that we all could/would follow AND one that if any one of us didn't we could trust the others to NOT come over. We felt this was simply a matter of choice, prioritizing a family gathering over being exposed to random strangers through trips to the store or visits to the bank. It meant we would need to plan ahead and have some flexibility in case things didn't go exactly right but IF everything goes as we planned we should be able to safely bring the few remaining family members my wife and I have, together for Christmas....safely. I've tested negative and been in quarantine (and will remain so through Christmas). You will have to stay tuned to learn whether we are able to gather as planned or if 2020 strikes again. (We know my brother has not been following quarantine protocol so there's one down).
 
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