Coronavirus global pandemic

I know, it's downright shocking! My cousin, who's on staff at UCLA, was telling me about that yesterday. I was just speechless. (She wasn't talking specifically about UCLA, but healthcare workers in general.) WHAT is wrong with these folks? Of all people, you'd expect them to know better.

One thing my cousin pointed out is that 'healthcare workers' is a BROAD term; in the case of this pandemic, it's referring to everyone from the loftiest physician to the humble cleaning person. They're all on the front line, so they're included. She said she assumes it's the less educated ranks who are refusing it. She doesn't know any doctor or nurse who's refusing it.

When stories like this are told, they really need to quantify who the respondents are.

 

Exactly. I have a ton of medical professionals in my family (and I was supposed to be one of them!), and not a single one is declining the vaccine, nor are any of their coworkers. So, again, I think the 'healthcare workers' refusing it may fall into the lower level/lower education ranks, like housekeeping staff, not physicians and nurses. At least that's what I hope.

 

I almost forgot to say this: "my" hospital, Methodist Hospital of Southern California (in Arcadia), made the news today!

Nurses have been holding a silent protest in front of it all day, to shed light on its dire need for...everything. They talked about their exhaustion, their new (due to COVID) requirement of a 1:6 nurse/patient ratio, which doesn't give them adequate time per patient, etc. One nurse said that he was caring for six patients in the ICU when one flat-lined and had to be resuscitated; if they hadn't been stretched so thin, this may have been prevented.

I can't honestly say that I recognized any of the nurses from my six months there, but I was pretty out of it a lot of that time. Plus with masks, the passage of time and everything...well, no one looks familiar. But that cute young nurse can give me a shot in the butt if he wants!

 

The Chief Medical Officer of the LA County Public Health Department, Dr Jeff Gunzenhauser, was on the morning news, dispelling myths about the vaccine. I'm glad, since there's so much confusion what with some 'healthcare workers' refusing to take it.

IF I had had any apprehensions about taking it, after watching his very clear, very accurate, very science-based explanations, they'd be gone.

Among other things, he explained that no one has died from the vaccines; compare that to the many who've died from the disease. Also, the side effects we're hearing about: some of them happened even in the test groups receiving placebo. He also cleared up the misunderstanding about vaccines causing the illness; they can't. What you may feel after receiving it is simply your body's reaction to the naturally occurring ingredients in it, like mRNA, as they enter your system and it figures out what to do with them. You cannot get COVID-19 from its vaccine, just like you can't get polio from its vaccine or tetanus from its, and so on...

Finally, he said that the next group of people to receive vaccines are aged 75 and up, and that people should talk to their doctors about when they'll be able to get it.

Here's a very helpful site: LA County PH coronavirus info

 

Absolutely. And it's really appalling to see how few eligible people are taking it. Have they not noticed that the world shut down for the past year?! What do they think caused that? How do they think it's going to stop?

Last week a woman proudly announced that she'd jumped the line, and gotten vaccinated before she should have. Then, after a big uproar, the backtracking story was that yes, she did jump the line, but that particular hospital had surplus [that for some reason couldn't be given to some other place...? ], and rather than throw it out, they gave it to those who wanted it. I'm not sure I fully believe that, but I do agree with the concept as @lunatic59 stated.

 

I think that depends a lot on where you live. Here in SoCal, the car-culture center of the universe!, we've been doing massive testing using a drive-up model. Dodger Stadium is the world's largest testing site. I just saw on the news that they've reconfigured the waiting lines, as people living in the area were complaining about the onslaught of traffic, which clogged up their streets. They showed an aerial view of cars waiting, numerous lanes deep, and it went on forever. I'm guessing that once the vaccine is available for all, it will be offered using a similar drive-up model.

UPDATE: they just showed it again, so here's a glimpse of Dodger Stadium's testing site:



@ocnbrze, according to the doctor I saw on the news yesterday(?), we should contact our doctors once we're in the eligible group. I think people who don't have their own doctors will be able to get it through public health venues, but I really don't know for sure.

 

With or without your trench coat?

 

As predicted, SoCal is gearing up for drive-thru vaccination centers. Dodger Stadium--the world's largest testing center--will now become the world's largest vaccination center. The picture I posted earlier is representative of how it will look in terms of incoming patients. They're shutting down the testing, converting it for vaccinations, and I believe they're going to re-open later this week.

Also, a sobering stat: here in LA county, ~500 people die each day from COVID-19. For those who still insist this [doesn't exist] [is a hoax] [has been overblown] [isn't deadly] etc., what do YOU think those 500 are actually dying from?

 

The 'happiest place on Earth' is about to become another super-vaccination center. Disneyland announced that it's preparing to provide drive-thru vaccinations, much like Dodger Stadium. Nice!

I'm happy that the Disney folks have decided to do this. Disneyland has always been, hands-down, my favorite [of a lot of favorites] place, and I never imagined it would be closed due to a pandemic, or anything else. I mean, growing up here, with the ever-present chance of earthquakes, of course I'd thought about it closing for a day or two, following a major earthquake, to make sure everything was safe, but THIS?

 

Only if you're in your trench-coat.