A man got COVID and got well. The lack of drama is the story.
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| Gerald Burns, from Facebook |
His experience is an up close reminder that vaccinated people get COVID. Omicron is different from earlier variants. Vaccination no longer signifies immunity. It signifies not getting hospitalized or dying. That reality is changing the mindset regarding COVID, which will slowly trickle down to public policy. Vaccination no longer means one is substantially protecting others, including co-workers. Vaccinated people may spread disease less, and for a shorter time, but it is now a matter of degree, not spreader vs. non-spreader. The vaccinated-but-infected can spread the disease unknowingly, since they have no symptoms, or mild ones.
The facts on the ground have changed, so the justification for mandating vaccination has weakened. There is less reason to care if others are vaccinated. The higher hospitalization and death rates for the unvaccinated are the concerns of life insurance companies, health insurers, and businesses with group health plans. It is less so the government or for people standing next to others in a grocery store. Everyone could be a spreader now. Democrats may have policy inertia and be slow to acknowledge the changed reality. They won't want to be accused of flip-flopping and they will want to keep policy options open for the next COVID variant.
There is a good reason to get vaccinated. You will likely survive COVID. Isn't that enough? Gerry Burns' experience isn't "data" or "science." It is the lived experience of one breakthrough case. He fits the profile of people who got hospitalized, ventilated, and died back before vaccinations.
Guest Post by Gerald Burns
"My experience with COVID."
Time frame: Christmas weekend through Saturday, January 15, 2022
1. Sunday, December 26, 2021. Had a family Christmas dinner. Learned a few days later that a family member had recently taken a Covid test because a work colleague had been diagnosed with COVID. The test was positive but my family member did not experience any symptoms.
2. Thursday, January 6, 2022. At dinner I experienced a sharp headache. After dinner I began to cough. My sinuses were very congested.
3. Friday, January 7, 2022. Went to my office. My symptoms continued all day. I drove to the Asante Rapid Test Site on Center Drive about 4 pm. By 5 pm I had completed my test and went home. Wife Connie becomes my nurse.
Gerry and Connie Burns 4. Saturday, January 8, 2022. My head-ache, congestion, cough, and sore throat symptoms continued to worsen. Treatment consisted of over-the-counter meds, sinus washing, steam, Chamomile tea with honey, water, and a sports drink.
5. Sunday, January 9, 2022. Symptoms easing. I received phone call from Asante advising that my test was positive. I resigned to isolation/quarantine. Today--day four--my wife began exhibiting similar symptoms. I became her nurse.
6. Monday, January 10, 2022. I began improving rapidly. I still had a lot of phlegm, so I continued sinus washing and blowing my nose.
7. Tuesday, January 11, 2022. I was feeling much better. Stopped the over-the-counter meds. Continue with the steam and hydration.
8. Wednesday, January 12, 2022. I continued getting better.
9. Thursday, January 13, 2022. I left my house for Starbucks.
10. Friday, January 14, 2022. Went to Ashland to pick up dinner from Omars Restaurant.
11. Saturday, January 15, 2022. Went to my office to prepare a To-Do List for the upcoming week. I felt like working.
Conclusion: Based on this experience, I suspect I had the omicron variant of COVID. I compare the level of sickness to a cold, but not a particularly severe one. Connie is getting better, too.
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6 comments:
My 12 year old nephew tested positive for covid last Weds, tested negative on Saturday….because vaccines. 5 other people in the same house all stayed negative….because vaccines.
Friend of mine 65 years young healthy as a horse. Never stopped working or working on something; Trump nut anti vaxxhat: checked into ER on a Saturday night and into the morgue on following Wednesday.
How Mr. Burns became infected is missing from the story.
One of the factors driving the surge is that Omicron is less severe, though more contagious, so my guess is that vaccinated people are being less careful. I've heard stories of people getting sick and saying they didn't know how they got it. This seems a bit odd to me, unless one is exposing themselves so routinely that in fact they can't tell.
I'm glad to hear he pulled through OK, however I'd like to know whether he felt that it was avoidable.
HOW DID GERRY GET COVID??
Two points here. One is that he had the Christmas dinner with someone with no symptoms who later told people that she was close to someone who tested positive. That is the suggested way she got it.
Point number two is essentially the opposite, and is the point Rick raised, with a question. How did he get it? Of course, he doesn't know. It could have been someone in a quick trip to a store the day after Christmas when masked with something less than a N95 mask. It could have been someone he encountered on Christmas Eve picking up a take out order in 20 seconds while getting change, both masked It could have been from the most casual of encounters since omicron is much more contagious
The whole former idea was to do a series of things to avoid exposure, which means scrupulous behavior, plus vaccination, meant safety. The omicron reality is that it is much, much harder to avoid with scrupulous behavior. This isn't a sexually transmitted disease and there are no "toilet seat" fake excuses. You get it from inhaling and you don't know which breath.
Peter,
You said, “There is less reason to care if others are vaccinated. Their higher hospitalization and death rates for the unvaccinated are the concerns of life insurance companies, health insurers, and businesses with group health plans.”
As a retired RN, I beg to differ. Our hospitals, which have been operating in crisis mode for far too long, are experiencing yet another surge. Meanwhile, too many health care workers have tested positive, gotten ill and/or died, leaving their colleagues short-staffed. If they aren’t totally burnt-out from being so swamped by preventable tragedies, they’re at least experiencing “compassion fatigue” – difficulty feeling empathy for the unvaccinated.
The devastating effect of the unvaccinated on our healthcare system ultimately affects us all, directly or indirectly. I’m very happy that Mr. and Mrs. Burns fared so well. It’s testimony to the wisdom of following the simple guidelines we all know so well, but which too many Republicans stupidly refute.
In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it seems appropriate to end with this quote: Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?' The least people could do is get vaccinated and boosted, wear a mask and avoid super spreaders - for themselves, their family and their community.
My friend next door who had been vaccinated yet experienced a near death experience in the hospital from COVID offered two insights. . The hospital stay was a nightmare because there were fewer staff to attend to his needs . A man in the same room who was dying from COVID was allowed to have his family in the same room wishing him farewell. My friend, embarrassed, asked for another room. No room was available so he was placed in the hall until the family left. The second insight is that he wonders if maybe he would have been better off dead. He is still weak, out of breath, has a sore throat, “not the man I was.” He is worried he will never return to being healthy. Maybe insufficient staffing is leading to the easing of rules resulting in sloppy care. And sadly, long haulers could be facing a broken life.
The antivaxers have been keeping this pandemic going.
If a virus isn't circulating it dies out (unviable).
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