This thread really sums up my fury over my country’s (lack of) Covid-handling policy:
We need the free vaccinations to continue, especially with the new wave/s already starting. Why has the funding been allowed to die???
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Because we’re still dealing with pols deeply invested in the idea that lies and beliefs are more important than facts and science:
When the cases climb and they are proved wrong again, their surviving supporters will probably be happy to forgive them on their way to the polls. Lather, rinse, and repeat. I guess the rest of us better start finding out how much the next booster will cost and prepare to pay. Members of the GOP might say that they’ll support an emergency authorization, but given how they’ve demonized the use of emergency powers at the state level, I have no confidence in their willingness to act for the good of the public.
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Because the GOP believes it will kill more Democratic voters than Republican ones…
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Narrator: It will not.
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They should be paying people to get vaccinated
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The Supreme Court said Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Friday after experiencing flu-like symptoms.
hmmm. what is flu-like that is not the flu? 
nope. not one thing comes to mind…
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If he’s being treated with antibiotics, then that’s not COVID; more like pneumonia.
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Does not have to be either-or, you know. God has a wicked sense of humor.
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True. COVID might be credited with the assist. 
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it sounded like the infection was secondary to the illness? but they’re being scant on details. he was admitted on friday, and the court only mentioned it today
( eta: when i craft press releases about hospitalizations during a pandemic, i always mention whether it’s pandemic related or not. i mean, i will. if i ever craft a press release about something… )
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According to a court spokesperson all nine justices are vaccinated and boosted.
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…with Covid not of Covid.
I think that’s the biggest right wing talking point.
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I feel like I am glued to a Mobius strip of stupid timelines, disaster capitalism, inept (at best) (at worse, malicious) health messaging and in the U.S. at least, Republican “management” where applicable, with a sprinkling of the movie Groundhog Day: Pandemic Edition.
Lemme know if y’all find a solid and sober way to pry loose of all that.
I mean, apart from dying.
ETA: typo
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So a week after Shanghai closed their schools they closed their Disneyland too, so now you know it’s getting serious.
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Well, about that… Did you notice a decrease in media coverage of the pandemic as of late?
Oh, you did say sober, right. Well, in a way, it is. Ain’t healthy, though. This is like the other side of sober. Vimes’ian, but in a bad way.
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Exactly so.
What I see, as far as media coverage goes, is that a lot of airtime and ink (and digital space) being taken over by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while the pandemic and the [U.S.] National Commission to Investigate the January 6 riot on the United States Capitol Complex, and for other purposes seem to be secondary or even lesser subjects to continue covering.
Ugh.
Looks like the tornado warning’s just lifted for my county.
Maybe I’ll go outside and check to see if anything fell over.
ETA: fkn grammar
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Omicron up
Coronavirus infections are again rising in Uusimaa following a three-week downward trend, according to Asko Järvinen, Chief Physician and head of the infectious diseases department at the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district (HUS).
Järvinen told Hufvudstadsbladet that at this point half of the entire population of the Uusimaa region has most likely been infected with the virus.
“I’m not worried about running out of intensive care spots. I’m more concerned about older people who haven’t been vaccinated becoming seriously ill,” he told HBL.
Vaccine experts in Finland are expected to reach a decision on the rollout of second Covid vaccine boosters this week.
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(Not strictly covid-related, but certainly covid adjacent)
First off, no one, not even she, is defending her in the sense of “it’s not her fault.” It was, she admits that. She blew through a number of checkpoints that should have stopped this from happening. However, she was working in a hospital (and Vanderbilt is a very good hospital) where she was instructed to ignore and bypass a number of those checkpoint due to need for efficiency and speed. IOW, she was told to sacrifice safety for efficiency. And she did. And someone died. Is she responsible? In part, yes. But the system bears responsibility as well. We are asking people to work beyond their physical and mental limits and then expecting perfection. I made a very similar mistake at the end of a 36 hour shift in the PICU, but as a doc, there were more levels of protection between me and the patient and it was caught. She made a horrible mistake because she was doing what she was told had to be done. The system is crumbling before our eyes, and we refuse to see it. Instead we hold those we called “heroes” responsible for the mess. Reminds me of the setup for The Incredibles, actually.
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Wow. The days of doctors writing a Rx in the patient’s digital chart and having the hospital pharmacy approve are completely over?
I think that the hospital screwed up by allowing the nurses to override protocols. This particular medicine should only accesible via the human hospital pharmacist, and only after it’s confirmed by the doctor. She made a horrible mistake, but the hospital protocols basically set the system in place for something like this to happen. It’s very sad that she is being charged with reckless homicide.
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My mind immediately went to robot anesthesia, robotic surgery, and other tech used in healthcare. Unfortunately, they aren’t always ready for prime time and there may never be a time when they are 100% accurate. So, an override could be a necessary safety measure.
Agreed that hospital procedures are setting people up for failure when they force use of technology that falls short in the way described in this case, though.
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