July 16, 2021
Back to the future
I really meant to be writing more after I got back from vacation last week. Alas, not only was I on call, which always interferes with my flow, but I woke up with sneezing and a very runny nose last Saturday. In the old days-pre-pandemic, I would have powered through, especially when I am scheduled to do Saturday clinic and already have a full schedule. With a skeleton crew on Saturday and only one doctor, the system encourages behavior that is not so hygienic.
What to do now? Pandemic times before vaccination, I would have immediately cancelled everything and gone for a COVID-19 test. Since the vaccinations, I didn’t really know the rules. So instead, I went in, questioning my own judgment, frustrated with the choices I had. I wore my mask, washed my hands, rescheduled patients, saw a few, then went to our Respiratory Clinic to get a test. Actually I got two- a rapid test and a PCR test that takes 24 hours for results, just to be safe.
Both tests were negative. I suspect I caught my cold from a 4 year old I saw with a fever earlier in the week. However, the time of waiting and wondering about results, reminded me of the beginning of the pandemic when we just didn’t know. Now, if more Americans were vaccinated and if the delta and other variants weren’t circulating, I would have worried less that I might have COVID-19.
I still worried that I would give whatever I had to someone else, especially Jamie, so we all just continued our good pandemic hand hygiene, mask wearing, and distancing. This worked, which reinforces that we have learned good public hygiene skills for the future.
The experience also reinforced the risks so many in our country are taking, by choosing to not be vaccinated or be willing to wear a mask. The numbers are showing it. Cases have risen 70% in one week in the US. Every state has rising cases. These cases are rising in the unvaccinated, with very few breakthrough cases in the vaccinated. The CDC director warns of a Pandemic of the Unvaccinated. Hospitals are already filling up.
So far the vaccines here in the US are working, even against the delta variant. But here’s the thing, and why I worried when I had some mild symptoms, every time the virus reproduces, mutations occur. At some point, those mutations will get past the protection we have from the vaccines and a new variant will arise. With continued spreading, here in the US and world wide, the risk of a variant that gets past the vaccines rises. Clusters of infections in unvaccinated areas put all of us at risk, even people who have had COVID-19 before. The answer is prevention with vaccination. Much of the world has no access to vaccines, but here in the US, we have plenty. Still, not enough people are opting in, the rate of vaccination has slowed. Dis-information abounds.
This is all discouraging. We have come so far and have tasted the delight of being mask free around our loved ones. I wish I knew a way to help bridge the distrust so rampant now. This detailed map shows vaccination rates and hesitancy county by count, zip code by zip code. If you live in a low uptake area, or are traveling to one. please double down on your protection, since the risk of exposure to the new variants goes up. Help the fight against mis-information if you can. Explain to reluctant friends and loved ones the reasons you opted to get one. Often people will listen to friends and loved ones and may be persuaded.
Wash your hands (really- it helps), wear you mask when needed, and keep safe six if indicated. Stay sensible.
And finally, my caveat is that this is my experience and my opinion, which are subject to change as more information is available, and not related to the organization I work for. Thanks for reading.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/delta-variant-takes-hold-in-u-s-as-coronavirus-cases-rise-nearly-70/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/us/covid-cases-rise.html
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/covid-cases-double-in-three-weeks-as-delta-variant-spreads.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/health/delta-variant-uk-usa.html
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/07/16/world/covid-variant-vaccine-updates/cdc-covid-vaccine-delta-variant
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/pandemic-of-the-unvaccinated-burdens-busy-us-hospitals/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/07/3-principles-now-define-pandemic/619336/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/07/3-principles-now-define-pandemic/619336/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/07/delta-variant-covid/
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/5-low-vaccinated-clusters-pose-health-risks-for-us-experts-say/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/delta-variant-vaccines/2021/07/08/05b1bc5e-df75-11eb-ae31-6b7c5c34f0d6_story.html
https://vaccine-hesitancy.healthdata.org
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/surgeon-general-urges-us-fight-against-covid-misinformation/