May we please have a comment to indicate that if you have not had covid yet, it's important to do everything you can not to get it? May we have an analysis, from a public health/mental health perspective about how difficult it is for those of us in the minoriy, those of us who believe the government has lost the masking/vaccine culture w…
May we please have a comment to indicate that if you have not had covid yet, it's important to do everything you can not to get it? May we have an analysis, from a public health/mental health perspective about how difficult it is for those of us in the minoriy, those of us who believe the government has lost the masking/vaccine culture wars, disinformation wars? The Feds threw up their hands and said, oh, we can't encourage people to be healthy, so let's just give up. Have you read this:
I agree so very much. It's horrid the public/mental health aspects have affected me personally though I have slight co-morbidities at age 63, had COVID May 2022 took Paxlovid but it was indeed nasty. I have had anxiety/depression disorder for years under treatment thankfully but the last 3 years have been blessed in many ways as my husband has a very good IT job BUT my work as an independent music teacher and free lance musician has been changed. I taught on Zoom for awhile but folks in the area have not been anxious to do that, and so teachers who took students back in person sooner had an advantage. That is anecdotal, and so many have much tougher problems. In this society handicapped and also folks in the lower wage earning part of society have been ignored. In my mostly upscale town folks are going about their lives now but I have friends in minority communities and even with middle to upper middle class lifestyles have lost MANY relatives and friends.
I haven't had it yet, and I understand the importance of not getting it. But on some level I'm envious of people who get it and recover, thereby reaching a kind of closure. Part of my fear of getting covid is rational - if nothing else, it would get in the way of my current life and career goals. But part of it is simply fear of the unknown, which isn't 100% rational.
I'm also a little annoyed when people who've had Covid lecture me about how
1. It's inevitable (apparently not! I haven't had it yet. Moreover I know people who died natural deaths within the past three years without ever getting Covid - they won!)
2. I'm not being cautious enough (more cautious than you, if you think it's all about caution). I don't avoid places, but I do swap out N95's daily, and I've had seven shots total
3. I must have had it already (nope. I get PCR tests every week and rapid tests every 4 days)
(What I won't do is gather indoors with friends and family who are not vaccinated, not careful, will not mask. I don't hang out with people who don't respect my boundaries... and I'm still not dining-out indoors)
As of last week and according to Topol, approximately 10-15% of Amerians have never had covid. You are lucky, but there's no closure once you get it. Many have reoccuring infections-- a friend, covid-careful, PhD in a health field, 50 years old, has had covid 4 times--all post omicron. Each time you get covid the potential insult to body systems amplifiers. The incidenced of post covid syndromes, which includes Long Term Covid but alwo presents other ways the immune system or vascular system threatens is significant in. I skimmed this thread-- I know people mentioned heart attacks and stroke -- early studies showed lower testosterone levels in some men, loss of grey matter in the brain of many, greater likelihood of diabetes, highly liklihood of dementia--oh joy!
Weirdly I'm pretty sloppy about indoor dining, although I mask religiously on subways. I figure, your typical pizza parlor or diner, with its busy kitchen, probably has damn good ventilation - otherwise Covid would be the least of our worries - it would have burned down long ago.
I get it! I sure hope you do not because it's miserable and very disruptive. My husband and I had it May 2022 when everyone in our area was "relaxing" we recovered OK (so far) I took Paxlovid. But it really messed up my work, and summer somewhat. No lectures to give as far as COVID goes. I have a friend whose grandchildren NONE of them have been vaxxed and they are ALL 6 years old and younger. Lucky so far they had COVID, 4 of the 5, with no as far as can be told ramifications. BUT we were wearing KN95s that turned out to be defective so as soon as we were out of the 10 days we have worn only N95s. I have watched tons of reviews and tests also. Hang in there!
Yeah, I never really trusted KN95's. N95's have been my go-to since fall of 2020 - I pretty much disregarded the guidance that they be conserved for health care workers. I wear a new one every time I go out, because I don't care to get Covid or some nasty fungal infection from a re-used mask.
I'm in that category: I have not had covid, and am definitely at risk because of my age and one comorbidity. I'm vaxed and boosted to the max, & I wear a good mask in all public places, and so far that's working. At this point I do not think it is reasonable to expect people to mask in public places. Here's why: If you wear a good mask yourself, carefully fitted, and very very consistently, you have very substantial protection. Yes, you would be more protected if everyone else was masked too, but not all that much more protected than you arevwhen they're unmasked (especially since most people do not wear good, well-fitting masks anyhow). It's probably only 5 or 10% of us that are this much at risk, at this point. I don't think it's reasonable to expect the other 90 or 95% to mask in public just to slightly increase the safety of the remaining 5-10%. I also don't think that expecting others to get vaxed or boosted for our sake is reasonable (though I think they should do it for their own sake). If everyone was vaxed & boosted then yeah, there would be less covid around, but not enough less to make a big difference in the safety of people like you and me.
I wish that they had crafted some sort of "risk score" instead of the rigid eligibility categories. And also that instead of having fixed "phases" in the initial roll-out, they had done something more fluid, where
1. Anyone can go ahead and schedule an appointment
2. If someone who's higher priority comes along and wants your dose, they'd be able to bump you to a later appointment with, say, 48 hours
There’s public space like stores, and then there are health care facilities— I think mitigation should be higher in the latter. Worst nightmare is a hospital stay where masks are optional.
I feel like we need to rethink the idea of putting lots of immunocompromised people in the same place at the same time. Maybe even recommend that immunocompromised people make a point to avoid one another, which is what people with cystic fibrosis do.
May we please have a comment to indicate that if you have not had covid yet, it's important to do everything you can not to get it? May we have an analysis, from a public health/mental health perspective about how difficult it is for those of us in the minoriy, those of us who believe the government has lost the masking/vaccine culture wars, disinformation wars? The Feds threw up their hands and said, oh, we can't encourage people to be healthy, so let's just give up. Have you read this:
https://www.pestemag.com/lost-to-follow-up/broken-sociality? And, please explain why those of us who know better don't have an option other than having a more isolated life.
I agree so very much. It's horrid the public/mental health aspects have affected me personally though I have slight co-morbidities at age 63, had COVID May 2022 took Paxlovid but it was indeed nasty. I have had anxiety/depression disorder for years under treatment thankfully but the last 3 years have been blessed in many ways as my husband has a very good IT job BUT my work as an independent music teacher and free lance musician has been changed. I taught on Zoom for awhile but folks in the area have not been anxious to do that, and so teachers who took students back in person sooner had an advantage. That is anecdotal, and so many have much tougher problems. In this society handicapped and also folks in the lower wage earning part of society have been ignored. In my mostly upscale town folks are going about their lives now but I have friends in minority communities and even with middle to upper middle class lifestyles have lost MANY relatives and friends.
so agree
Excellent article, thank you. And, same.
It’s a great article and I completely agree.
I just read the article: thank you so much, this writer articulates so much so very well!
I haven't had it yet, and I understand the importance of not getting it. But on some level I'm envious of people who get it and recover, thereby reaching a kind of closure. Part of my fear of getting covid is rational - if nothing else, it would get in the way of my current life and career goals. But part of it is simply fear of the unknown, which isn't 100% rational.
I'm also a little annoyed when people who've had Covid lecture me about how
1. It's inevitable (apparently not! I haven't had it yet. Moreover I know people who died natural deaths within the past three years without ever getting Covid - they won!)
2. I'm not being cautious enough (more cautious than you, if you think it's all about caution). I don't avoid places, but I do swap out N95's daily, and I've had seven shots total
3. I must have had it already (nope. I get PCR tests every week and rapid tests every 4 days)
(What I won't do is gather indoors with friends and family who are not vaccinated, not careful, will not mask. I don't hang out with people who don't respect my boundaries... and I'm still not dining-out indoors)
As of last week and according to Topol, approximately 10-15% of Amerians have never had covid. You are lucky, but there's no closure once you get it. Many have reoccuring infections-- a friend, covid-careful, PhD in a health field, 50 years old, has had covid 4 times--all post omicron. Each time you get covid the potential insult to body systems amplifiers. The incidenced of post covid syndromes, which includes Long Term Covid but alwo presents other ways the immune system or vascular system threatens is significant in. I skimmed this thread-- I know people mentioned heart attacks and stroke -- early studies showed lower testosterone levels in some men, loss of grey matter in the brain of many, greater likelihood of diabetes, highly liklihood of dementia--oh joy!
yes it's sad and difficult~
Weirdly I'm pretty sloppy about indoor dining, although I mask religiously on subways. I figure, your typical pizza parlor or diner, with its busy kitchen, probably has damn good ventilation - otherwise Covid would be the least of our worries - it would have burned down long ago.
I get it! I sure hope you do not because it's miserable and very disruptive. My husband and I had it May 2022 when everyone in our area was "relaxing" we recovered OK (so far) I took Paxlovid. But it really messed up my work, and summer somewhat. No lectures to give as far as COVID goes. I have a friend whose grandchildren NONE of them have been vaxxed and they are ALL 6 years old and younger. Lucky so far they had COVID, 4 of the 5, with no as far as can be told ramifications. BUT we were wearing KN95s that turned out to be defective so as soon as we were out of the 10 days we have worn only N95s. I have watched tons of reviews and tests also. Hang in there!
Yeah, I never really trusted KN95's. N95's have been my go-to since fall of 2020 - I pretty much disregarded the guidance that they be conserved for health care workers. I wear a new one every time I go out, because I don't care to get Covid or some nasty fungal infection from a re-used mask.
I'm in that category: I have not had covid, and am definitely at risk because of my age and one comorbidity. I'm vaxed and boosted to the max, & I wear a good mask in all public places, and so far that's working. At this point I do not think it is reasonable to expect people to mask in public places. Here's why: If you wear a good mask yourself, carefully fitted, and very very consistently, you have very substantial protection. Yes, you would be more protected if everyone else was masked too, but not all that much more protected than you arevwhen they're unmasked (especially since most people do not wear good, well-fitting masks anyhow). It's probably only 5 or 10% of us that are this much at risk, at this point. I don't think it's reasonable to expect the other 90 or 95% to mask in public just to slightly increase the safety of the remaining 5-10%. I also don't think that expecting others to get vaxed or boosted for our sake is reasonable (though I think they should do it for their own sake). If everyone was vaxed & boosted then yeah, there would be less covid around, but not enough less to make a big difference in the safety of people like you and me.
I wish that they had crafted some sort of "risk score" instead of the rigid eligibility categories. And also that instead of having fixed "phases" in the initial roll-out, they had done something more fluid, where
1. Anyone can go ahead and schedule an appointment
2. If someone who's higher priority comes along and wants your dose, they'd be able to bump you to a later appointment with, say, 48 hours
There’s public space like stores, and then there are health care facilities— I think mitigation should be higher in the latter. Worst nightmare is a hospital stay where masks are optional.
Yeah, definitely do what you can to avoid trips to the hospital. For instance, wear a reflective vest when walking around outside in the dark.
Oh, agree about hospitals and also places like infusion centers, where there will be many sick and immunocompromised people.
I feel like we need to rethink the idea of putting lots of immunocompromised people in the same place at the same time. Maybe even recommend that immunocompromised people make a point to avoid one another, which is what people with cystic fibrosis do.