The state of Arkansas has the 4th lowest vaccination rates in the US, coming in at under 43% of adults fully immunized. Last April, the governor signed into law a statewide ban on further mask mandates, which he now regrets. And he should, because the state is in a medical crisis that has their hospitals taxed and their medical personnel exhausted. According to NPR, Arkansas saw a jump in COVID cases from 103 to 1,376 in a single day. With that many unvaccinated people succumbing to the Delta variant, the hospitals are full, with almost half the patients being treated for COVID-19. Now the state is looking at record numbers of people contracting the virus and only eight ICU beds left in the state.
Arkansas, among the states hardest-hit by a new wave of coronavirus cases linked to the highly contagious delta variant, says it is down to eight unoccupied ICU beds statewide with which to care for COVID-19 patients.
Gov. Asa Hutchison, in a tweet on Monday, said the latest report highlighted “startling numbers.”
“We saw the largest single-day increase in hospitalizations and have eclipsed our previous high of COVID hospitalizations,” the governor wrote. “There are currently only eight ICU beds available in the state.”
“Vaccinations reduce hospitalizations,” he added.
Hospitalization of COVID-19 patients jumped by 103 to 1,376, the report cited by Hutchison shows. It’s the biggest daily jump and total in the state since the start of the pandemic.
“This is unlike anything that we experienced before during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Dr. Cam Patterson, who serves as chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, which includes the UAMS Medical Center hospital in Little Rock.
Hospitals are seeing younger patients than before. A year ago, the average COVID-19 patient was over 60 years old, Patterson tells Morning Edition. Now the average age is 40.
Nearly half of the people in the hospital’s ICU are there because of COVID-19. About 20% of COVID-19 patients have been pregnant people, Patterson says, some of whom have lost their babies because of the disease.
These average age of those getting sick is now 40. Pregnant women make up 20% of the patients. The article said the children’s hospital went from one or two COVID patients to having 22 currently. Hospital staff have already been through this once. They’re frayed. And most are done. The article said some are just walking out mid-shift because they can’t take it anymore. I can’t imagine the emotional toll this must be taking on any vaccinated first responder. Unfortunately, that’s left the nursing staff down by 17% so the staff still there is having to handle even more patients than usual. It’s just so depressing. And it’s not just Arkansas. Many states are anticipating surges and starting to see a shortage in ICU beds once again. Patients are again to have to travel for hours to find a free bed. We just heard Ruby Rose’s story on this.
I wish I had answers, but I keep ending up with more questions. I had discussions with two separate neighbors last weekend. I don’t know either that well, but I’ve always liked them enough. The first one disagreed with county workers being required to be vaccinated. She reported that Texas, her primary residence, doesn’t require anything and that there were no COVID issues at all there. I could do little more than blink in response. My other neighbor got upset that my kids had to wear masks when they returned to school. His kids are long out of school, and I told him that neither I nor my kids minded the masks. He seemed particularly upset they had to wear them “even inside.” These are both educated people. I know the guy is vaccinated, at least. But I can’t with these comments anymore. Especially when I got a text that night from a close friend telling me he has COVID. He’s vaccinated and followed guidelines without complaining, but it still got him. He’s home, fortunately. But he’s suffering physically and isolated from his family who are thankfully negative. This country needs fixing right now, in many more ways than one.
Photo credit: Getty Images
I’m so sick of anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers, and the like. I have not one shred of patience left for them. This is insane.
ditto
same.
Not one shred of patience, nor one shred of empathy left on my end.
Rant alert and I should like a big B BUT I think at this point if you don’t get vax’ed (exceptions for those with true concerns or medical issues) then you don’t get access to medical care. I’m done with people not getting it because someone on social media told them not not too or ‘freedoms’. People who have very serious illness and medical conditions (who are vaxed or would like to be and can’t due to medical issues) aren’t getting access to care they need because hospitals are overwhelmed. Those doing their part are the ones still suffering because of selfish individuals
honestly I’m alright with let’s go to Darwin’s Principle that those who are smart enough to get vaxxed survive. I can do without so many morons in the world. They don’t deserve the care they are getting from these amazing health care professionals
Rant reply alert. LOL.
About 1 1/2 years before we all went in to lock-down, after being in a back-breaking car accident – on top of being seriously ill for several years, I gave up my (occasionally glamorous) big city life for a fixer-upper in the country. I love my cottage and my little village, but the work was hard and I was basically self-isolating in my focus on the house. It was frustrating. And lonely. That’s when I found Celebitchy. And Celebitches.
Celebitches can be catty, snarky, petty, sometimes even a little nasty. But damn, they are loyal to the human race. They are vociferous in their defense of those who are in need, disenfranchised and abused. I know people are tired, but I am heartbroken at some of the comments below.
Hate the misinformation. Hate the people who are lying about this plague and it’s consequences. Hate the entertainment disguised as news. Hate the political party that is stacking your local governments and courts – and weaponizing our language to turn us against one another. Hate the rhetoric – not the people suffering it’s consequences.
Stay strong Celebitches…
I am sorry but this viewpoint is infantilizing and making excuses for the people who are enabling everything you mentioned. *They* are the reason we opened back up too soon and are the ones who propagate the fake news and the ones who spread the lies.
I mentioned below that my state’s health director who was Jewish had Nazis camping out around her house and threatening her family for just trying to enforce mask-and-distancing mandates. That was *on top* of the more than 300 lawsuits various hair salons, clothing stores, gyms, etc filed against her, in the middle of last spring and early summer, for her recommendation for their temporary closure. She resigned. These people are the ones being hospitalized.
No, I hate those people, I’m not sorry for it.
@Charlie
Sorry but those suffering have chosen to not listen, so the suffering is a consequence of their actions and honestly they haven’t had enough consequences. What I hate is the suffering those who are doing their part face because of those selfish entitled people (misguided) that your kinda giving an out for.
Celebitchy commenters are honest and for the most part very knowledgeable, empathetic, and understanding of global health crisis and its impacts, as well as strategies that are effective.
Thank you @Annie
And to @Charlie we are past the point of trying shame people for believing in masks and vaccines. This is not a matter of playing nice. People are dying and children who haven’t even had a chance at a full life yet are ending up dying or with long-term covid effects because a certain segment of Amerikkkan society refuses to give up their individualist, imperialist, selfish and in most cases, white supremacist lies in order to do the right thing. No. There is no time for Mr. Nice Guy. They don’t give a s*** about the rest of the people and have proven that they will be deliberately violent toward not only those who mask and take precautions but also towards the hospital and medical professionals who are trying to save them. So yes, now is the time to cut ties and let natural selection do its work and hope that they don’t take too many of our under 12 children along with them.
Also @Charlie my best example I give to people who want me to feel sorry for those choosing to be unvaccinated/not follow health guidelines is this
Would I feel bad for a drunk driver? Or someone who was impaired and drove? No I would have all the empathy for the victims of said situation.
I will give zero excuses for people who put others in harms way.
I see anti mask and anti vax people the same way. There is tonnes of information about vaccines/health policies and the consequences of getting Covid and yet people have chosen to not do those things AT THE RISK of OTHERS. The same with driving impaired- tonnes of information and preventable methods for causing harm.
@Annie, regarding your drunk driver analogy, that’s what I’ve been thinking too in relation to the rhetoric being spouted by DeSantis and Abbott about people taking personal responsibility for masking. So by that logic, there shouldn’t be any drunk driving laws because personal responsibility. In fact, it takes away the need for any criminal law.
DITTO. I’m sorry and terrified for children.
Working with an infectious disease doctor, I am getting my 3rd pfizer shot tomorrow and then a 4th. Because I have zero spike antibodies. I am not part of the ‘survival of the fittest’ equation. I am terrified.
I have said here before that anti-vaxxers are anti-maskers. If you aren’t wearing a mask I assume you aren’t vaccinated.
Anti-vaxxers didn’t just appear from nowhere. Their hate, their fear, their terror was created by entertainers and government employees (voted, appointed, or employed) for profit. Hating the sick and dying feeds this fear. Hating the sick and dying and not the source of their fear and miseducation is infantilizing. And cruel. Don’t be as bad as the haters who got us ALL to this place and time.
I am sending love, hope and best wishes. You send what works for you.
The people who are threatening mask and vaccine advocates with violence and are now taking medical care away from others are the ones who hate the sick and the dying, not Celebitchy commenters.
If you are suggesting we send love and hope to literal Nazis because they are poor misguided souls then I don’t know what to tell you.
@Charlie So is protecting the feelings of racists, for example, more important than addressing the racists and the racism? If I am a woman who is sexually assaulted, should I tone down my rightful rage and spend some time to worry over the feeling of the rapist. I’m sorry but I’m just done with the whole “don’t be as bad as the haters”. No. No amount of being livid about a whole segment of the population’s willful destruction and murder of other people will make me be “as bad as the haters”. That’s not how this works.
So true. They are the people that are prolonging this!
Conspiracy theorists think the vaccine is a ploy to harm them, track them, etc.
A much better theory – if the government wanted to hem a part of the population (I don’t believe this to be reality), they let out a virus, allow the intelligent, educated, caring members of society choose to protect themselves via vaccine, and weed those who thought thy were ‘protecting’ themselves out by simply allowing them to not save themselves.
I guess I’ve just seen one too many stupid posts from anti-vaxxers claiming to protect themselves, their rights, freedoms, cho is we, etc.
If there was a ploy to thin out the population, it wouldn’t be by vaccinating/harming the population you would want to keep around – it would be by allowing the hillbilly’s to literally kill themselves off while calling it freedom.
The government pays for everything with taxes. The government hands out massive contracts to rich people WITH TAXES.
The government is NOT trying to thin out a population they farm for wealth and labour.
Ridiculous.
Let me start by saying I am a researcher and scientist by profession – I know more about the reality of the situation than most.
It’s not my theory – its just an obvious refutation to a common theory. And yes, I agree they rely on cheap labour but more so in countries such as India (those with limited access to birth control and education, lack of unions and human rights, and little comparative burden per capita on government resources).
Thinning out the population isn’t actually the most absurd thought process; not that I think that’s actually what is happening. However, given the disproportionate number of rather useless individuals, or those who are considered a burden to society (again not my thought process) who actually absorb more tax dollars than they produce, it wouldn’t be the most senseless thought. What I was getting at is anti-vaxxers are playing themselves.
to be honest, I fully expect the anti-choice movement to use the amount of children/teens/young adults lost to COVID as a reason why abortion and contraception (hormonal contraception at least, since women are the decision makers on that) should be banned – we’ll get the ol “but we lost so many children and need to repopulate” song & dance
@pottymouth pup Agreed. This is related to the plot of the Handmaid’s Tale, too. Sigh. Gilead…
They know that your cell phone pretty much tracks your every move anyways. I can’t stand those people!
Exactly!!
@m
Nature has a way of fighting back. I don’t think this is planned but this is nature’s way of fighting to idiots destroying it by creating a deadly virus. Most deadly viruses are a result of humans doing something horrible to nature. Swine flu, bird flu, etc.
I took a Populations Studies course in college once (fascinating subject) and the crux I got from it was, when earth’s population gets too big and it doesn’t have the resources to support it, the following things happen: war, famine and disease. They all thin the herd.
This could be Darwinism or natural selection at play. I don’t think it’s a government plan.
This is so much more nefarious than the planet fighting back. Decades ago the fossil fuel industry began a cynical campaign to undermine climate science to prevent any country from acting on global warming. Their plan worked so well it went on to infect every branch of science.
After years of working in and consulting to environmental organizations I am not the least bit surprised by how people refuse to believe the science on covid. I’ve seen the ignorance on climate change.
@mac
Not disagreeing with you. I’m just saying humans ignoring science, pandemics are nature’s way of saying “fuck around and find out.”
I think I understand what you are saying. That their ideas are so absurd, that an even less absurd and more plausible idea is still absurd.
LOL.
I don’t know. I used to hate Bill Gates, but since I got vaccinated I inexplicably want him to rule the world.
My sister in law works in intensive care in the UK. Last week she had an anti-vaxer who was dying of covid and the staff were arranging for her children to come in and say goodbye. They had all begged their mum to get a vaccine but she’d refused and she died. Just brutal, not only on the family but on all the medical staff.
I’ve seen a couple of stories like this pop up in the last couple of weeks. One that I read yesterday the man didn’t die but was seriously ill in IC. His thoughts were that he didn’t have to get i5 because h3 was young (40) and healthy and would maybe get the vaccine further down the line. It was his wife that realised things were bad and sorted him out. He like many others wish he had taken his turn when he was invited to get the vaccine. These are the people I have zero sympathy for, their families are a different story.
This is one of the rare instances in which a difference of opinion means life or death. I don’t care if people want to kill themselves or their kin with this anti-vaxx idiocy, but they should not be allowed to expose everyone else. This is war, and they’re giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
I am seriously out of compassion for these hateful, selfish people. I don’t like feeling this way about my fellow humans. It’s a good thing I’m not in charge.
I’m out of patience and out of ideas. I can’t see a way out of this idiocy. You can’t shame the shameless, so now what?
I know it will never happen but hospitals need to start turning away unvaccinated covid patients (obviously except for children and those who medically couldn’t have the vaccine). You don’t trust the medical profession to prevent you from getting sick then why do you trust them to cure you? I’m done with them. All out of f**ks for them.
I don’t want to deny people medical assistance. I don’t know what the answer is.
@Merricat it’s a heartbreaking thought, but I will fully say that if I had the choice those last ICU beds would go the the stroke patient or car accident victim who are an unfortunate reality of everyday life, and not to the idiots choosing to scream about the so called evil of modern medicine…until they show up shrieking and crying for modern medicine to save them. I’m done.
@Louisa, exactly!
@Mia4s, Just what I was just going to say. There are vaccinated people who can’t get the medical help they need because of these idiots.
Yes, my fairly young father in law had a stroke during the ICU shortage last winter, and he died waiting for a bed in a ICU that had specialty cardiovascular equipment and heart surgeons (he was in a small hospital) .
The hospital literally had no where to move him, and they told him he had to “wait”….The waiting became two days, and he finally slipped into unconsciousness and died. He should have and would have received life-saving medical care if it were any other moment in time.
Oh @readingissexy, that is the absolute worst nightmare scenario. I’m so sorry that happened to your family. I can’t imagine.
I’m done with the whackjobs. It’s not like people don’t have the information. I’m so sick of the Republican death cult.
Vaccination passport required to access restaurants, stores, flights, etc. Millions signed up Iin France after the requirement was introduced.
@readingissexy Deepest condolences to you and your family. This is a horrific experience that no one should have had to go through. And this is why people are saying now that there needs to be a prioritization based on vaccination and masking.
I’m so sorry too, Readingissexy. A senseless and unnecessary outcome.
@Anna — 100% !!!
“This is war, and they’re giving aid and comfort to the enemy.” – Wow. That is so well said, and I completely agree.
At some point, these anti-vax fools have to be treated more as the enemy instead of being coddled (and sympathetically profiled in the Times) – because the longer this virus is allowed to evolve and mutate, it will just get deadlier, and the chances of it evolving to evade vaccines and kicking off something truly apocalyptic just keep increasing. But the right has been worked up into such a fervor from mainlining propaganda for 4+ years that I’m afraid any real enforcement of vaccine mandates or passports will just erupt in violence. It’s so depressing.
Something I’ve seen mentioned (don’t know how serious it is, but mainstream outlets mentioned it) was medical insurance incentives. As in, if you’re unvaccinated, your insurance won’t cover your COVID bills. I feel like that would hit people the hardest, except that even insured people are totally screwed over by insurance as it is. Another was that you have to pay an extra premium for being unvaccinated.
I don’t know. I just can’t believe how many people are literally dying so that they don’t have to admit that their favorite politician might be wrong.
This @Lucy But the timeline takes too long. There is so much silence around the deaths. Those people are not seeing it reported, only the hateful anti-science rhetoric. So by what point will it be clear to them that a vaccination is preferable to no insurance coverage–and how many have insurance anyway? End of day, I think what will hurt the most is no access to any businesses or public spaces, etc. and knowing that if they do contract covid, they will be downgraded in priority due to their vaxx status, though of course they will try to fight it and say it’s not covid. There just seems to be no end to the stupid in this country. Meanwhile, other countries are desperate for vaccines and here we’re throwing them away because these murderous a******* are ruining everything for everyone.
If that were the case health insurance companies could charge higher premiums for the overweight, those who engage in high-risk sex, drinkers, bungee jumpers, careless drivers, etc. Those people take up medical resources year round, repeatedly, when the behavior that causes these conditions is completely controllable. After all the time and effort spent getting rid of pre-existing conditions why bring it back to the way it was before?
Life insurance companies do not charge higher premiums for the unvaccinated, so it’s not hitting them very hard or they definitely would.
Here’s what I think. I live among a very anti vaccine, anti mask part of America. I think their reasoning for not doing anything to protect themselves and their families, communities, etc, is multi-pronged. First of all, they really do live in a reality bubble. Their reality is not based in facts. Secondly, most of what they’re hearing is tinged with their version of Jesus and it becomes a sin to disobey. Thirdly, the hate for minorities and Democrats and Biden is so big they will do anything to deny a win for anyone who isn’t them. My solution is, admit them to the hospital if they need care but if a heart attack, MVA, stroke, etc needs that bed – they get less care. They’ve already kinda signed their own living will by not doing anything to protect themselves, therefore they get confined to old fashioned pest tents from days of old. Palliative care only. Idk what else to do.
I heard that they think that the vaccine is the mark of the Devil. LOL.
People should have to pay a hefty fine… that would get the arses moving.
I’m an RN and our hospital is at capacity. I’m exhausted. I work in PCU and we have a whole wing now dedicated to Covid patients which will probably end up being the entire floor!
Thank you for everything you are doing. I cannot fathom the physical, mental, and spiritual exhaustion. How can we support you? Sending a hug!
Thank you for everything. May your blessings far outweigh what you’re dealing with right now.
Thank you so much, Willa. I cannot imagine being in your position, and I am sending you all my best.
Sending love and strength @Willa I’m so sorry for all you have to deal with.
People who don’t want to wear mask and also refuse vaccine (if they are eligible) should sign a waiver that they will not seek hospital treatment for what they think is just the flu.
ITA. At this point, if you don’t believe in the science/medicine behind the vaccine which will prevent you from getting dangerously sick with coronavirus, why do you seek medical treatment as the cure?
Selfish, willfully stupid, and entitled. I cannot believe this is where we are.
Absolutely. It breaks my heart that my brother has not yet been vaccinated despite eligibility and an abundance of available doses in my country. His girlfriend basically talked him out of it – I believe he otherwise would have just got it done. I am sick at the thought of what could happen to him.
I just don’t get these people, have they ever had the regular flu? Its terrible and I hate being sick, or my kid being sick, I’d do anything to avoid it. Getting a vaccine and wearing a mask is so frigging simple.
This is not the flu.
As a relative told me (as he suffered through COVID AFTER he was vaccinated): this is something the devil conjured up. And unfortunately symptoms are not consistent and even people in the same household may get it and others don’t. The chaos of this pathogen is what is helping leaders breed chaos and their minions believe it – some to the death.
I never said it was the flu. I was merely saying that if you thought it was like the flu, wouldn’t you still want to protect yourself and loved ones if possible. Influenza kills lots of people, not so many since we all started wearing masks though.
My friend and I were discussing how we have not gotten sick in the past year – with the flu and we get the flu shot too. I think being more careful about large crowds, vaccinating, more sanitation and MASKS really helped. Also, we were home and not in poorly ventilated workspaces where we were like cattle in cubicles. That also helped.
Yep @Seraphina. I plan to mask up during cold/flu season and on planes/transit from here on out.
Yep.
One of my close friends lives in Arkansas. Last week, her partner went to the ER and needed admittance to a hospital with a devastating lung infection (it ended up being pneumonia, not covid). They had to drive 2 hours in the ambulance to find a hospital with room for him. Then his unvaccinated parents came to visit him, exposing his weakened lungs (and my friend) to their BS. It was so selfish, and my friend felt completely trapped and helpless. I’m so over it. I don’t know how we can possibly move forward with people like this.
I have a family member married to a doctor in Arkansas. They’re both huge Trumpies who are also likely not vaccinated (I know my sister isn’t, and my BiL probably isn’t unless his hospital had a mandate). Their attitudes infuriates me espeically because they’re seeing this UP CLOSE and are so far in the f***ing orange cult that they don’t care.
The good news is that all of their kids, including two doctors who are also treating COVID patients are forever and ever NOT conservative or ever voting R after witnessing this BS.
I’m on pins and needles waiting for the vaccine to be approved for younger children. I’m in Missouri and my 8 year old grandson will be going to third grade in a few weeks. Masks inside will be mandated in his school.
I can’t believe how the cases have risen and will continue to do so. My kids are vaccinated and will have to wear masks and yet they could care less. It’s the adults who have the problem.
I will forever blame the Trump administration for politicizing this pandemic and now he and his family are safe and others are paying the price for his crazy rhetoric, agenda and methodology to win a second term at all costs – even lives of the people.
Agreed.
Same. I will never look at government leaders the same AGAIN. To me, this is the most demonstrable example of a failure of leadership. So many Trump and Trump aligned government “leaders” politicized the crap out of a disease that won’t play by their political rules. Because diseases don’t care about politics. And look at the results. These republican governors, etc. Are literally killing their constituents.
These idiots not only chose to ignore medical science abd not get vaccinated, their “freedom” now includes abusing and endangering medical personnel- and they don’t care AT ALL until themselves or someone in their immediate family dies.
They do not care about the hundreds of thousands of us that lost someone before there was a vaccine.
That really does seem to be the case, and I’m not sure how they sleep at night. Scientists busted their asses, collectively, for this vaccine. Doctors and nurses, the entirety of those who have battled this for nearing 2 years, will likely need heaps of mental health care for years and years to come.
But sure, putting a mask on or getting a shot are insurmountable hardships.
Those 8 ICU beds in Arkansas were filled yesterday. Mississippi is fast approaching the same level of crisis. Biden is sending ventilators to Florida and DeSantis is claiming he didn’t know about it despite federal law requiring that he sign the request and the acceptance
Unvaccinated white ignorant people (because, yeah Arkansas) are dying? God, I love happy endings. My patience for the antivaxxers is over.
Yeah, no. Being happy people are dying is not okay.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m happy, but a great many of these people were fine with others dying and said so loudly, not to mention the willful toll they are taking on the healthcare system and overworked medics, so this is just karma as far as I’m concerned. I’m not unduly upset, I can say that.
And the fact is, some of these people are getting Covid more than once and still are loudly anti-vaccine and anti-mask. So I think it’s unreasonable not to expect that people will be glad they are no longer threats, because that’s what they are while they are alive and spitting in the face of science and the rest of us.
The thing is, every death leaves behind trauma for folks who choose differently. The children, family, friends, coworkers, and community left behind. It’s tragic every which way. And yes, this has affected me personally in ways that are difficult to express in a blog comment.
I find some of these comments so callous and heartless. Be better than the folks who don’t seem care about others. Community means caring for everyone, not those who we think deserve it. Isn’t that the point of getting vaxxed and still masking – caring about others as well as you and yours? Of course I want people to smarten the fuck up so this virus can be contained, but this attitude of indifference is troubling.
Yeah, that’s the tricky thing about personal responsibility. Your choices in a pandemic affect everyone around you, not just you, not just your loved ones either. If someone can’t be bothered to do the right thing for the sake of their own loved ones and community, I don’t think that burden should be on others to care in their stead. It’s affected me too, so don’t think I’m untouched by it.
In my state, these were the same people camping out around our Jewish health director’s home with Nazi memorabilia, all because she wanted to enact a mask mandate and other initiatives. I don’t feel sorry for these people, if they die, and if they couldn’t respect their own survivors and community to do the right thing, it’s not my job to take that on either. It was my job as a responsible citizen to stay home, mask up, and get vaccinated – all of which I did and am still doing as far as I am able.
We have been going over what the right behavior is, for over a year now. People are dying, economies collapsing, healthcare workers are abandoning the field. You can be as compassionate and kind as you want, and all it seems to get you with some people are those screaming about how they don’t care about protecting children, the vulnerable, etc etc. No, I don’t feel obligated to care about them, because I don’t think that the attitude of caring about them translates into being better than them. It’s not even a question of being better than them, it’s a question of not endangering and in some cases killing others the way they wish to. Them not endangering the rest of us is the only hope at this point. And it’s not even just with Covid, because now the treatment they require means that those in car accidents, those needing surgery, etc, are out of luck.
Robyn, these people made the choice by not getting vaccinated.
I have too many friends and family in bedside care to give a flying compassionate f*ck about the unvaccinated idiots.
Same here, tired of the high road, all it’s gotten us is shot the f down.
Well, continuing down the road of who “deserves” medical care and who doesn’t isn’t going to lead anywhere good either. American health care is already mess of inequality.
These people taking up beds and causing the deaths of people who can’t get necessary care unrelated to Covid aren’t helping that inequality.
You can bet that if a loved one of mine died waiting for medical care that was a withheld to take care of a militant anti-vaxxer who was unrepentant, I wouldn’t be that sad at said anti-vaxxer’s passing. Sorry.
I get that. I’ve stated that repeatedly – I understand the undue burden on the health care system. Making zero excuses for these people. I’ve watched a immunocompromised loved one die of the flu. And yet I still firmly believe that health care is a human right for EVERYONE and the attitudes and lack of compassion in this thread are upsetting.
And so? What is your solution? We give them compassion over and over and over how many times they want to be infected until they kill our kids and destroy all of our jobs and break the country and world even further?
Arguments like this are similar to the sentiments when war criminals die, “we shouldn’t be glad, they had families!” That’s not how this works. And ultimately it’s compassionate to these people but distinctly lacking in compassion towards their victims.
Forgive me but I have lost two friends to this. I have no patience anymore. And if people want to make “the choice” to endanger others they should be prepared for real consequences. But that’s the trouble, most of these people have never faced consequences for anything and that’s where their mindset comes from.
With a dozen friends and family in bedside care, my compassion doesn’t reach to idiots.
Having compassion means seeing people as human beings and treating them as such, not necessarily approving of or absolving them off their actions. As I’ve now stated several times, I too have lost people but deciding who “deserves” medical care and who doesn’t (and why, and what for) is not a road we should continue to go down. It’s dangerous and leads nowhere good, especially given history and the current power structures at play. I’m also furious and despair at the current state of affairs. Both things can be true. I don’t have an answer, but not caring that those people are dying? I won’t go there.
That’s your prerogative but it is not more moral or sensible than how others feel and saying others disappoint you is implying just that. This is not a debate about universal healthcare etc which seems to be how you’re trying to frame it.
These people have chosen their path. Not only a path that may kill them, but a path that knowingly could kill others. And they’re people who, in the US at least, have repeatedly voted against having the health care system that is fighting to save their lives.
Agreed, Maria. Her argument that she’s taking the moral high ground when people are dying because of the selfish actions of others? Belongs on a FauxNews discussion board.
I feel you. Oh boy, do i feel you.
I would be furious and resentful if I worked in a hospital or clinic, those refusing to take the necessary precautions from a communicable disease are a slap in the face to their long hours. We live in a society, we have an unwritten social contract to work together the best we can so we can continue that society, if you are unwilling to vaccinate or socially distance go live off the f$cking grid. I’m so sick of catering to this attitude.
I’d be furious if my surgery or anything else got canceled so they can take care of people who basically invited COVID.
I live here. I don’t get it at all. The kids start back to school next week and thankfully, we got an injunction against the anti-mask mandate. It’s been a fight all summer long. I’m very lucky that the two schools my kids go to are rigorous about covid prevention, but I just found out a lot more people are returning than I had expected, and it sounds like the classes will be a lot more full than anticipated. I’m just prepared to pull them if that’s what we need to do.
If it were me, I’d go virtual for the first month to let the wave peak and decrease.
We don’t have the option. It’s either for the whole semester or in-school.
If that’s an option. In Texas they removed the virtual option over the summer, then my school district came up with a temporary one they offered spots in yesterday. School starts next Tuesday.
A friend who she and her husband are vaxxed posted a pic of her 5 year old daughter, she got COVID from a meet the teacher event. Thankfully, her symptoms are mild right now.
I’m thankful to be in Dallas County right now, because we got an injunction against emperor Abbott’s insane anti mask mandate, masks are now required in schools and businesses again, at least for the next week. Dallas was down to 25 adult icu beds and 2 pediatric icu beds in a 19 county area yesterday.
This is horrific, and Dallas has a higher vaccination rate than the Texas average. Also, all the “my rights!” Ppl are going to be real surprised when they find out the right to require vaccination was established in 1913, with an anti vaxxer who was against the fucking small pox vaccine.
I teach 1st grade, and I’ve started to do virtual “meet the teacher” sessions with parents and kids, as many of them are returning to in-person classes for the first time since the pandemic started. So far, I’ve had 3 parents go off on me with anti-vaxx rants. I’ve done a good job holding it together while talking to them, but after the last one ended, I just burst into tears. Not because they were nasty to me or because I felt threatened or anything like that, but just out of sheer frustration that we’re still having to put up with this bullshit after a year and a half. And I know that, however frustrating it is for me, it’s a million times worse for doctors and nurses and other frontline workers, who are risking their lives to care for ungrateful, selfish idiots.
And now there are serious nursing shortages around the country because so many are walking away from the profession after the past 18 months of nonstop horror. A hospital may have 30 ICU beds but only 15 can be used because there isn’t enough staff to serve. So now there are hospital bidding wars going on to entice nurses to come and work for them.
Texas there’s 368 ICU bed in the state. And hey! Since the state doesn’t/won’t track or release its covid case load or testing data to the cdc we don’t have a real firm grasp on what covid looks like here 🤦🏻♀️
https://covid-texas.csullender.com/
The news reported that in Austin we are down to two ICU beds for an 11 county area. That’s for approximately 2 million people. School boards are defying our idiot Governor and mandating masks, and it remains to be seen if he will withhold state funds as he threatened. As the Austin mayor said, we have a Governor who listens to donors, not doctors. Yet he had to send out a plea for help from out of state medical personnel. Pretty soon there won’t be a state that can send help. I’m vaccinated and when a booster becomes available I’ll be first in line. But I’m terrified for my grandchildren who are all too young for the vaccines. Our news reported that in Louisiana the majority of children in the ICU were under two years old. This is beyond tragic. I seriously don’t care if stupid unvaccinated adults get seriously ill or die, but damn them for risking children.
@Giddy What you mention about the children under 2 years in LA is horrific, absolutely devastating. Agree with you 100%: “I seriously don’t care if stupid unvaccinated adults get seriously ill or die, but damn them for risking children.” Other posters wanting to fight about word selections above should just refocus on this and be quiet. We are in a beyond-dire situation.
Houston reported 66 beds for 6M people.
Reading about the pregnant patients, more than a few of whom will those their babies is beyond heartbreaking.
Get vaccinated.
My cousin is expecting her second and is in her late 30s. She is fully vaccinated as of about two months ago and is so glad she did it. Typical side effects for the day or so after her second shot and everything continues to look great with the baby. Get. Vaccinated.
I got vaccinated as soon as I could at 12 weeks pregnant back in March and I am so happy I did. As my midwife put it, the known dangers of covid in pregnancy so outweighed any of the theoretical concerns surrounding the vaccine at the time. And my baby will be protected which is wonderful. Now if i could just get my 2 year old vaccinated…
I’m currently pregnant and was waiting until the end of the first trimester to get my second dose. I’m in Canada and the vaccine wasn’t available right away after my first dose and then I become pregnant and my first doctor told me to wait until after the first trimester to get the second dose. I’ve since switched doctors and my new doc said all the data they have amassed so far indicates that it’s safe. Also the CDC has released new findings urging all pregnant women to get fully vaccinated. There’s no evidence that it increases the chance of miscarriage or has any other adverse effects on the baby. If there’s other pregnant woman reading this, I urge you to read the new guidelines and get fully vaccinated.
@stelly I am fully vaccinated since March. At that time they were recommending waiting until after the first trimester due to concerns regarding fever as a side effect. Since then I was told the earlier you can get the vaccine the more it will transfer to the baby but I am just happy to be vaccinated at this point.
I have three pregnant cousins right now and none are vaccinated, and neither are their partners – they keep saying COVID only hurts old people and think they are invincible. Makes me so angry
Apparently only 23% of pregnant women are vaccinated in the US right now. I hope your cousins aren’t getting bad advice from their doctors to wait to take the vaccine, like I did from my first doctor. I’m really glad that I switched doctors and listened to the advice of my new doctor who said it’s safe regardless of what trimester you are in. I suffered a miscarriage earlier this year, so I was really scared about it happening again, but all the data shows that the vaccine is not linked to miscarriage. Also the CDC is now saying that pregnant women have an increased risk of getting sicker from COVID and being placed in intensive care or on a ventilator than non pregnant women.
Hope the Guv’ner ordered freezer trucks, they’re gonna need ‘em.
My county reached 70% vaccination rate in June and still the hospitals are filling up.
I have a friend who had a medically necessary but non-emergency surgery canceled yesterday because of lack of space due to Covid patients.
I now personally know of two otherwise healthy antivaxers that ended up in the ICU with Covid. One may not make it.
My dad who lives in FL is back to not seeing people and rarely leaving the house. He was so happy to be getting the vaccine and now back to square one. I’m worried about his mental health.
It’s all so sad and infuriating.
My mind frame has shifted. As far as I’m concerned, there have been 30,000 COVID suicides since April, 2021, and about 5,000 collateral damage deaths. It’s sad that so many people are committing suicide in the US……Mental health, and mental stability, are so very important!
Arkansan here. It’s even worse now, because those 8 ICU beds are long gone. Get in a car wreck? Have a heart attack? Chop off a finger? Appendix explode? Good luck to you, because your ICU bed is being warmed by an anti-vax, anti-mask Freedumb Fighter who didn’t trust medicine when it came to the vaccine, but is suddenly desperate for the medical community’s help when they can’t breathe. One of my dearest friend’s mother had a heart attack yesterday, and she’s being cared for in the hallway of a local hospital because all the beds are full of COVID patients. These people have blood on their hands, even though they’re the ones in the hospital with the virus now. There is no telling how many others they infected. My vaccinated father currently has COVID because some dipshit at his work came to the office sick. I don’t wish death on anyone because that’s sick, but I will say this: If you refused the vaccine, and refused to wear a mask to somewhat mitigate that decision, you should NOT be afforded an ICU bed. Jesus is your vaccine? Well, I hear he makes house calls, so figure it out at home. And the people who have the audacity to suddenly decide the virus is REAL only after they personally contract it, then create a GoFundMe? I hope hell has ice water.
Jesus is your vaccine? Well, I hear he makes house calls, so figure it out at home.
Amen.
I’ve got 2 Arkansas sisters and a brother in east Texas. I’ve no idea if they are vaccinated – I’m a Yankee liberal and they are all southern bible belt half-siblings who teach their kids to hunt at 3 years old, so the only way we still speak is to NOT discuss most things (LOL) – but I’m terrified for them all, and for you. Because you’re right! What happens when there’s a car wreck? How can they all be so selfish???
Former Arkansan here….Amen to everything you said. My parents and family still love there in Little Rock. My mom is at UAMS today with thyroid issue. However, she has been told they cannot do an outpatient procedure & will have to reschedule because there is no rooms or staff available!!!! It is enraging!
If you don’t believe in science or medical advice regarding the vaccine, STAY THE HELL OUT OF THE HOSPITAL WHEN YOU GET COVID. Pray for your recovery and quit taking up the space for the sensible folks who took Covid seriously. Arrrgghh!!!
I’m here too. Yep. We’re extra careful right now. Every time my kid jumps off something high, I hold my breath.
Yes, those people IMO are the worst of them all. The ones who claim Jesus as their representative and the only thing they need after they have used modern medicine their entire lives and then turn around and rush to the ER when they eventually do get covid. It doesn’t work that way and they know that but they are just hiding behind religion instead of admitting that no matter what they will only do what their real savior (trump) and religion (GQP) tells them to do.
Sorry but if they meet Jesus, He’ll pull a Mariah Carey classic response: “I don’t know her.”
YES to everything you said.
AMEN.
My county is 70% vaccinated, but my sister who is a social worker told me that there are two people under 40 on ventilators at her hospital and she thinks they will both die.
I was recently in the hospital. I needed to be transferred from a rural hospital to a larger hospital in Columbus and was required to wait 2 and a half days for a bed despite having internal bleeding. These are scary times.
My father lived in Arkansas and passed in 2020 from complications of pancreatic cancer (pneumonia). The closest hospital to him was an hour and a half away. The stress of living away from him and arranging in home healthcare/ambulance with limited options was overwhelming. The hospital would not allow out of state visitors or let me be with him the last week he was on a ventilator. That crushed me to not be able to comfort him. My heart breaks for folks living there with chronic illness or disease who struggle with limited healthcare and now dealing with dangerous conditions in hospitals due to overflow of people who deny covid is a problem. Some of the more rural areas in AR just do not have resources available. I am glad he did not have to live through the rest of Trump (who he referred to as POS) and seeing what has happened with covid and vaccines. This is truly a very crazy time we are all living in.
The main problem is, some of these covid deniers/anti vaxers still think that its still only OG C19, that only the elderly and those who have compromised immune systems will get it. Delta is different because it doesn’t seem to care about age/health status. If this pandemic had started out differently, where all age groups/all health status were affected, I think we’d be in a different situation right now. If it had been the children it was killing first rather than the elderly, it would be so different now. What this virus has shown me is our society really doesn’t care about the elders and the disabled. It’s sad how this society only values the young and healthy.
Some parents in my area having been complaining about masks in school because they think Delta is being overblown in the media to scare everyone to get vaccinated. They also think that wearing a mask is much more harmful to kids and their mental health then actually getting covid. I can’t.
People like that astound me. Vaccines for school children has been a thing for decades and in Asia children wear masks to school without an issue. I remember getting my first vaccine shots for school and this was before the advent of the sharps container. The sight of all those used hypodermic needles in a trash can next to me caused a lifetime fear of needles unfortunately but I always got a vaccine when it was required (including a few months ago for the virus). IMO, a mask and a needle is a small price to pay to avoid the grave.
In Austin friend who is a nurse said they’re understaffed and are asking people to work overtime but had such a hard time getting anyone to take on more shifts they had to offer bonuses for each shift taken
Meanwhile a local bar had a sign please be patient we’re understaffed because ‘no one wants to work anymore’. Ugh seriously? Never patronizing that bar again. Maybe they don’t want to be exposed to unvaccinated who refuse to wear masks and are underpaid on top of that
The sign at the bar should say how much money no one wants to work for. Probably $5/hour.
Grocery stores here have been hiring throughout the pandemic. They pay decent wages and probably not as physically taxing as waiting tables.
I wonder if the “let grandma die”people still feel the same about letting covid do it’s best now that it’s taking out kids and pregnant women.
They’ll say it’s God’s will and still keep on believing in b.s. lies.
This is like the beginning again. It’s back to reducing leaving the house in a car to avoid car accidents. As I’m sure many of you are too, I’m spending a lot of my day doom-scrolling and searching for any info on when my kids can get vaccinated.
I recall, about12 months ago, reading news that the vaccine was being tested and it was looking promising. And I thought, that’s it! We have a vaccine, the end of this thing is near. I was obsessed with tracking vaccine news.
It absolutely blows my mind that we have the key,the answer, a way out of this pandemic, but it will not happen because of the the behaviours and actions of people.
100% agree. I honestly thought once a vaccine was available the pandemic would be over. Boy was I wrong. I don’t see this ever ending.
I wish no one ill. But my GOD if there was a smallpox breakout or polio people would be rioting for it. Now because these INSANE politicians and their constituents are delusional their little kids and vulnerable neighbors suffer. God help our medical personnel.
My local school district had a Board of Education meeting recently where they announced that K-12 would be going back with no masks. There is a remote K-8 option, but no HS option. There were cheers and applause in the audience when they announced no masks. It’s in sanity. My county has about 52% fully vaccinated. No one is wearing masks at all (except me and my kid). I am so grateful to be sending him to a college with a vaccine mandate for students, faculty and staff. The town the college is in is 95% vaccinated. I think he will be safer there than here.
I work with someone that has done acid, cocaine and every drug you can think of and yet this person is convinced the vaccine is bad for your body and is the only employee that’s not vaccinated like come on people!!!
I live in Alberta (the Canadian equivalent to Texas or Florida) and our government recently decided that people who test positive for Covid-19 DO NOT HAVE TO QUARANTINE.
What-the-what???
Fellow Albertan here…. it was horrifying and terrifying all at once. Kenney removed all restrictions, and at the same time revoked asymptomatic testing, quarantining, and masking on transit.
My friends from across Canada heard the news and began asking me if it was real, or a satirical twitter account…
It was real 😥.
At this point my empathy is completely gone for these people. Most of the states where these beds are at capacity aren’t even densely populated. We’re talking places with populations in the low millions, so on top of not getting vaccinated, you actually have to be going out of your way in some of these regions to spread this shit because you’re not in tight urban areas like NYC or LA. This is just pure irresponsibility, misinformation, and selfishness.
I feel sorry for the sane people in those states, but I’m almost like…at this point, I’d pack my shit and go, no matter what it would take to get the hell out. When I read about all doctors and nurses in these areas who are burnt out, I’m just like…what are you doing? You’re prime real estate right now. Get online, get a job outside the state, and get the hell out. Your government and fellow citizens are telling you that they don’t give a damn about your safety, your work, or your efforts, so why continue paying taxes to that shit? Starve the beast, man. It is not worth your life.
I just don’t understand the people who are up in arms about kids wearing masks to school! My son’s tiny school in Los Angeles was able to reopen last school year, and the kids wore masks 100% of the time, other than lunch (which was outside and socially distanced). Guess how many kids complained? ZERO. Guess how long it took them to get used to it? About 3 seconds. They were so happy to be back at school with their friends, and the best thing about kids is they are adaptable, easily more so than adults, as this nonsense proves.
Are there really parents out there that would rather explain to their kids that one of their friends or teachers died from Covid, rather than take the miniscule amount of time it takes to find a mask your child will wear? HINT: They are kids, my son is weirdly attached to a camo mask I bought him early in the pandemic, and it is starting to look a bit like his stuffed bear he’s had since he was born. I really need to get some new camo masks for him before school starts. Off to shop!
I am a nurse practitioner in Indiana (in urgent care), and we have had a few calls this week asking our network if we had beds to accept patients from Arkansas. We barely have room for our local patients!! I can’t even tell you how much hateful, verbal abuse we have all taken from Covid patients when we ask if they have been vax’d. They are livid that we would even ask. I have had some tell me “of course I haven’t been vaccinated, how dare you ask me that!!”. Unfortunately, these jerks are allowing more variants to be created through mutation. I hate people most days because of this damn virus!!