Unfortunately my husband and I are being badgered by both family and friends to "get over it". To get on a plane (most folks live a multi-hour plane trip plus airport time away) there's no way we can keep a mask on the whole way without taking it off to eat and drink. Indoor dinner invitations. My sister in particular is livid that I won't fly across the country to visit my cousin who could die of Stage 4 cancer any day, and also pissed off that I would not fly to the inevitable funeral either.
My husband and I are sick of this, we're sick of being safe, we're absolutely desperate to get a long overdue vacation in Hawaii, we're sick of being called paranoid, silly, and stupid. We're tired of giving them the facts and they tell us we're exaggerating. We're sick of the lack of freedom. We *KNOW* we would have terrible long COVID if we got it... both of us have high blood pressure, obesity, and my parents/grandparents on both sides died of strokes. I weep with despair almost every day seeing people enjoy the freedom of being able to do whatever whereever and wish we could do the same but can't.
I realize at some point we may both snap and go on flights, eat indoors, go to movies. Because we're sick of it and at some point we may decide the risk is worth it (keeping masks on when we can to reduce the risk, but still).
I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. It absolutely sucks in every way possible.
As soon as the Democratic misleadership, led by the right-wing corporate fellators in the Biden White House, flipped on covid precautions, it was all over. It's past time to acknowledge that the two wings of the Party of war abroad and austerity at home are one.
It took me several days to read your superbly researched and written article. It is so rich that I could only digest a couple of pages at a time. Seeing how I feel and what I know written down feels incredibly supportive. I am already stubbornly dug into COVID caution and feel buoyed to go on. Please keep writing.
This is a passionate, informative, clear message, but it’s very individualistic. We’re facing a system that’s not meant to provide care for people, and so it’s necessary to challenge the norms on a systemic level. Some scientists share insights just as passionately about pressuring govt to provide air purifiers in every facility and to legislate their necessity. Do you have energy to put forward on sharing actionable steps to really, really improve things? Or is this mostly about making us feel better about ourselves?
I would love to have a super condensed version of this I could send to family & colleagues. So many people (myself included unfortunately) have short attention spans.
I have so much trouble communicating what I've learned to people in my real life.
"But studies have shown that even a “mild” covid infection increases risk of death 10x for at least a year after infection for all who catch it."
This statistic appears to be a misquote. The number in the cited webpage was a 233% increase for those younger than 65. The HR in the associated study for those younger than 65 with mild COVID was 2.83.
Unfortunately my husband and I are being badgered by both family and friends to "get over it". To get on a plane (most folks live a multi-hour plane trip plus airport time away) there's no way we can keep a mask on the whole way without taking it off to eat and drink. Indoor dinner invitations. My sister in particular is livid that I won't fly across the country to visit my cousin who could die of Stage 4 cancer any day, and also pissed off that I would not fly to the inevitable funeral either.
My husband and I are sick of this, we're sick of being safe, we're absolutely desperate to get a long overdue vacation in Hawaii, we're sick of being called paranoid, silly, and stupid. We're tired of giving them the facts and they tell us we're exaggerating. We're sick of the lack of freedom. We *KNOW* we would have terrible long COVID if we got it... both of us have high blood pressure, obesity, and my parents/grandparents on both sides died of strokes. I weep with despair almost every day seeing people enjoy the freedom of being able to do whatever whereever and wish we could do the same but can't.
I realize at some point we may both snap and go on flights, eat indoors, go to movies. Because we're sick of it and at some point we may decide the risk is worth it (keeping masks on when we can to reduce the risk, but still).
I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. It absolutely sucks in every way possible.
Excellent and informative post Looking forward to more.
As soon as the Democratic misleadership, led by the right-wing corporate fellators in the Biden White House, flipped on covid precautions, it was all over. It's past time to acknowledge that the two wings of the Party of war abroad and austerity at home are one.
Holy crap! Brilliant!
Thank you, Derek.
It took me several days to read your superbly researched and written article. It is so rich that I could only digest a couple of pages at a time. Seeing how I feel and what I know written down feels incredibly supportive. I am already stubbornly dug into COVID caution and feel buoyed to go on. Please keep writing.
This is a passionate, informative, clear message, but it’s very individualistic. We’re facing a system that’s not meant to provide care for people, and so it’s necessary to challenge the norms on a systemic level. Some scientists share insights just as passionately about pressuring govt to provide air purifiers in every facility and to legislate their necessity. Do you have energy to put forward on sharing actionable steps to really, really improve things? Or is this mostly about making us feel better about ourselves?
Thank you for writing this.
I would love to have a super condensed version of this I could send to family & colleagues. So many people (myself included unfortunately) have short attention spans.
I have so much trouble communicating what I've learned to people in my real life.
Deborah Birx: COVID will eventually evade Paxlovid, one of the few treatments for those infected and could cause deaths to "easily double."
https://fortune.com/well/2023/04/29/covid-antiviral-paxlovid-evade-deborah-birx-double-deaths/
"But studies have shown that even a “mild” covid infection increases risk of death 10x for at least a year after infection for all who catch it."
This statistic appears to be a misquote. The number in the cited webpage was a 233% increase for those younger than 65. The HR in the associated study for those younger than 65 with mild COVID was 2.83.
Excellent writing! Thank you so much for saying these things. I share your sentiments entirely. Well done.