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The Red Squared Menace
Author: BobR    Date: 06/16/2021 12:04:25

It feels like a new day in America. Our president is overseas NOT embarrassing the country. The U.S. Senate just passed a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. And - of course - we are all emerging from a year of isolation blinking into the bright light of society returning to some semblance of remembered normalcy. With the aggressive push of vaccines, the rates of infection and hospitalization are rapidly dropping.

That deserves some clarification... The rates are dropping in states where a large percentage of the states' population is vaccinated. There is a great disparity between the states, and - as one might expect - severe infections are highest in states with the lowest percentage of vaccinated residents:
Hospitals in states with the lowest vaccination rates tend to have more COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, according to hospital data collected in the past week by the Department of Health and Human Services and vaccination rates published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wyoming, Missouri, Arkansas and Idaho currently have the highest percentage of COVID-19 patients on average in their ICUs; those states all have vaccinated less than 40% of their population.

Medical centers say there's also an obvious change in the age of their sickest patients, as older people are much more likely to be vaccinated than younger.

One quick look at this list of states' percentages of vaccinated residents sadly reveals no surprises. The "blue" NE states are all at the top; the "red" southern and midwestern states are all at the bottom.

It's easy to joke (and I have) that these anti-vaxxers (who come to that position either due to political beliefs, or trusting randos on YouTube over scientists) will just Darwin Award themselves out of the gene pool and leave the country a little smarter. The sad reality is that they can also be carriers, and infect those too young or with valid medical reasons, preventing them from getting the vaccine even if they wanted. The results are predictable (from the 2nd link, above):
"We're all seeing the same thing – when someone does get sick and comes to the hospital, they're much more likely to be young and unvaccinated," said Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Cathy Bennett, president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association, said the picture is the same in her state.

"As COVID vaccinations rolled out across New Jersey, there’s been a major shift in the ages of patients admitted to the hospital," said Bennett. "Unlike last spring, when those 65 and older accounted for the majority of hospitalizations, we’re now seeing more young people hospitalized with COVID."

[...]

Among children 11 and younger, who can’t yet get the vaccine, having vaccinated family members is keeping them out of the hospital, and protecting them against MIS-C, the multisystem inflammatory syndrome that can be a rare but dangerous aftereffect of a COVID-19 infection in children.

These yahoos who refuse to get vaccinated are putting their own (and other's) kids at risk. It's reckless endangerment.

I use this website to follow the COVID rates in various states. I certainly won't be visiting any that have elevated rates. Maybe that's a message that state governors and legislatures need to hear.

Just like wearing a mask, getting vaccinated protects yourself AND the ones you love. Protect your kids and your neighbors - get the shot.
 
 

6 comments (Latest Comment: 06/16/2021 17:22:25 by Scoopster)
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