Well, my brother just intubated a 35 year old who is most likely going to die.

[Initech]

And this man's impending cause of death? Donald fucking Trump.

That's right - he bought into all the lies and bullshit about the vaccine and thought that he could get away with not getting it because he was healthy and exercised regularly. And because he bought into Trump's peddling that the virus was no big deal. Well guess what? The virus don't care about that. COVID-19 is an equal opportunity killer. This guy is now on a ventilator because of the bullshit and lies that are being peddled. Want to stop that? Get the damn vaccine!

But this latest victim is yet another in the long list of reasons why getting the vaccine is important. Don't throw your life away because idiots on Facebook or even our former Idiot in the White House told you to. These are not the people you should be listening to for health care matters.

The MAGA cult and Facebook propaganda are literally getting people killed now.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. That is awful. I hope against hope that he will make it AND change his ways. n/t

[Initech]

3. I hope so too.

And I hope any MAGAs who might be lurking here also see that this shit is real and serious. It's nothing to screw with and it's not a joke. And if you don't take it seriously, this will happen to you.

And this is why I think it's time for some tough love with anti-vaxxers.

[Nevilledog]

2. This might be harsh, but it's accurate

I'm sorry your brother is faced with trying to save people who actively tried to harm themselves and others.

[Initech]

4. That's the life of an ER doctor!

Though I will send him that graphic, that is very appropriate!

[Tiger8]

71. They are not like those hurting themselves, IMO

I have a lot of compassion for suicidal people showing up at ER. They're experiencing an intolerable (literally) level of pain or anger.

But the MAGA morons? To see them showing up at the ER with COVID is more like a never ending parade of Jonestown cult members - but even worse - because they can see with their own eyes the consequences doing what they saw their other cult members do.

They're the worst kind of people. So selfish - knowing taking up scarce ventilators and ICU beds. True evil. Yes, Health Care Workers are pledged to save them. But morally, I put them on an even lower level than some gun nut who opens fire on a crowd.

[COL Mustard]

31. Not Harsh At All

If you don’t like wearing a mask, the ventilator is soooooo much more comfortable.

[littlemissmartypants]

69. NOT!

[Texaswitchy]

5. My housemate was in the medical field from 18 to retirement.

She lost some people.

It hurts but you do the best you can and save who you can.

Peace to your brother.

[Hugin]

6. I am so sorry for what your brother is unnecessarily enduring.

Yes, I'm also saddened by the plight of the 35 year old. Because, that's just the kind of person I am.

[Initech]

20. Yeah these last two years have definitely sucked.

But seeing anti-vaxxers become a full blown death cult is particularly infuriating.

[Hugin]

30. Spectacularly infuriating. n/t

[Evolve Dammit]

36. Full blown death cult is right.

[totodeinhere]

7. I don't just blame Trump. Trump did not hold a gun to his head and force him to refuse vaccines.

He should not have been stupid enough to believe Trump and other right wing thugs like Tucker Carlson. Trump and company were enablers, but the fault lies with the 35 year old man.

And it's important to realize that this is just an anecdote. One severe illness from Covid is one too many, but even with this Delta variant that vast majority of infected people have no symptoms or mild symptoms.

[crimycarny]

10. Enough to be filling up our hospitals

Whether the vast majority have no symptoms or mild symptoms is irrelevant IMO because there are enough severe cases to be filling up our hospitals and burning out our healthcare workers. That’s the material point.

[totodeinhere]

14. Knowledge is good and the more the better in my opinion.

There is nothing wrong with stating the fact, and it is a fact, that most people who are infected get either no symptoms or mild symptoms. And that in no way diminishes the plight that many hospitals are in.

[crimycarny]

38. My point was about the relevance

I don’t see the relevance to the OP’s point that a 35 year old healthy male was just intubated and may die — and it was preventable if he’d not bought into the lies. Whether most have milder cases has no relevance to this 35-year old and others like him.

[totodeinhere]

48. I think it's relevant because I think it's only natural to wonder "could this happen to me?" when

reading this article. And the answer is probably not but you should definitely get vaccinated because it's not just about you. Even if you have no to mild symptoms, you don't want to take the chance of passing it on to others such as people who for whatever reason are not eligible to get vaccinated.

[crimycarny]

75. Agree

Maybe I misunderstood your point. I thought you meant people were over reacting because most people have mild or asymptomatic cases. I 100% agree on the need to get vaccinated, and honestly largely BECAUSE so many are asymptomatic—that makes the virus all the more dangerous because of it’s invisibility in many. Sorry if I misunderstood.

[Initech]

21. I blame Facebook too.

When the pandemic first hit, Facebook should have done everything they could to stop the bullshit. But they didn't, and actually made money from it. And now people are dying from it. This is on Mark Zuckerberg as much as it Trump.

[totodeinhere]

25. I have mixed feeling about this.

Last edited Sat Aug 14, 2021, 07:25 PM - Edit history (1)

One part of me says that Facebook should allow people to say what they want on their platform and then let the reader decide whether to believe it or not. As a rule of thumb I am skeptical of anything I read on Facebook. If people are gullible enough to believe some of that stuff then I think it's a bad commentary on their intelligence.

But on the other hand in general I hate Facebook and I wish that the Justice department would sue to break them up.

[CaptainTruth]

27. Again I will say, schools need to teach critical thinking as a priority.

That is, the ability to evaluate information & accurately assess its validity. Is it true or is it BS? Too much of our education system is based entirely on a "believe what you're told" model, & people like TFG & Sean Hannity etc take full advantage of it. It produces people who are totally gullible & easily deceived, & we've all seen the consequences of it.

I'm convinced that if it doesn't change, our society will continue to deteriorate.

[Delphinus]

74. Yes!

I did not learn critical thinking while in my parochial school.

[McKim]

61. Amen!!!

AMEN!! Zuckerberg does have a lot to answer for!!!! Too much freedom on Facebook. Canada and France control information for the people's own good. If we have learned anything from this its that people are quite easily led by any Pied Piper and our leaders with good sense need to lead.

[Initech]

66. Exactly! I've been using the Pied Piper analogy for a while!

Like these morons would literally jump off a cliff if Trump were to tell them to do so. And for that I do not feel sorry for them.

[TheFarseer]

8. I can't blame Trump

He got the vaccine. He was hyping the vaccine back when he was President. If you point that out to a Maga, they just say they made him do that or they tell you “He’s a New York liberal. Who cares what he thinks?”

[bluedevil4]

9. When Trump

got vaccinated, didn’t that ring a 🛎 bell? Wouldn’t someone think if he did maybe I should ? He got vaccinated on tv for goodness sake

[mgardener]

13. No he did not

He should have though.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2021/08/03/ex-trump-health-secretary-says-trump-should-have-taken-vaccine-on-tv/?sh=2a887ab46bc2

[bluedevil4]

23. Good grief

He did get vaccinated in January but, get this , but doesn’t want to help Biden out apparently a few people have gone to him to ask him to talk to his followers but he said no. What a shame

[ancianita]

56. Would you please post a link about his saying no? That should have made headlines, right?

[bluedevil4]

58. I'm trying

[link:http://businessinsider.com|

It’s from august 13th

[ancianita]

63. No worries.

I'll see if I can locate it.

[Ms. Toad]

46. I'm pretty sure he has not even acknowledged that he got vaccinated -

and he certainly did NOT get vaccinated on TV.

Everything I've seen about him being vaccinated is second hand rumor.

[bluedevil4]

52. Ok nt

[Ligyron]

59. Trump got vaccinated after getting Covid himself?

[bluedevil4]

60. I can't post a link

From my phone . I read it in the business insider on august 13th. It also said that his friends were asking him to go and tell his people to get vaccinated. I’m paraphrasing

[dutch777]

11. The news media needs to report not only the Covid stats but the others that are missing treatment

or dying because the ERs and ICUs are overrun with Covidiots. There are articles here or there about delayed cancer treatments etc. but the media and politicians need to emphasize that when you or your loved one have your heart attack or stroke or accident, you may be waiting in line for a bed, treatment, etc. when minutes count due to morons who could not get manage to get vaccinated. And you will be getting treated by docs and nurses that are mentally and possibly physically exhausted to the point that your treatment will not only be delayed, but its quality not 100%. Some smart law firm should start finding folks that have had their lives impacted by the unvaxxed and start a class action against Fox, Trumpsters and other anti-vax, anti-mask types to hold them responsible for all the human collateral damage.

[packman]

12. What really gets me angry isn't that they are dying

It's all the collateral damage to others, the health system, and the economy they are causing. Hospitals need to turn them away - let's get ruthless about this

[Niagara]

15. +1 Exactly.

[not fooled]

26. AND the reason the GQPee keeps pushing

the anti-vax, anti-mask narrative: to hurt Biden's presidency.

[RicROC]

50. another form of domestic terrorism.

[ShazzieB]

42. NO.

Getting "ruthless" is NOT an appropriate solution to this problem. Denying care to non-vaxxers would be a gross (in every sense of the word) violation of ethical principles doctors and nurses have sworn to uphold.

The minute it becomes acceptable to deny needed medical care to someone for a reason like refusing vaccination, where is the line going to be drawn? If you start denying care for one reason, you open the door to denying it for other reasons, and who gets to decide which reasons are acceptable and which ones aren't?

Believe me, that is a Pandora's box that none of us should ever even consider opening. The ramifications are horrifying. Anyone who thinks this is a good idea needs to read up on medical ethics. Here's a nice, succinct summary to help you get started: https://clipboardhealth.com/how-the-4-principles-of-health-care-ethics-improve-patient-care

P.S. Because of this country's refusal to adopt the principle that access to health care is a basic human right, many Americans are denied access to health care (or have to settle for substandard care) for financial reasons all the time. That is unacceptable and just plain wrong, and it needs to change. It's also a separate issue from deliberately denying care because of someone's lifestyle choices.

[Piasladic]

16. Holy Moly -sorry

your brother must be a strong person

[electric_blue68]

17. Strength, and Safety to your brother !

[Aristus]

18. Same kind of shit I deal with every year during flu season, including right here on DU:

"I don't need to get the flu vaccine because...because...well, I exercise regularly and...and...I wash my hands! See? I'm healthy! I don't need the immunization!"

[crimycarny]

39. We have antivirals for flu

And some immunity as well. COVID vaccines over 95% effective against severe disease, flu shots can be hit or mass. Finally, flu not spread as easily as COVID..as evidenced by its almost non-existence last season due to all the masking, hand washing, and social distancing. The two are not the same.

[Aristus]

45. Wow, silly me.

I would have thought possessing a license to practice medicine would mean that I knew what I was talking about when it came to the clinical protocols for the prevention of disease, and the excuses people use when they refuse vaccination. But I guess not…

[crimycarny]

76. ?? All I stated are the flu and COVID are not the same

Which they aren’t. Flu vaccines not nearly as effective (hopefully that will change), COVID much more contagious and easy to spread than flu, and we do have other tools—like anti-virals—to fight the flu. In fact, antivirals for flu can be the only option to those who can’t take the flu shot or don’t have a strong enough immune response. We desperately need an effective antiviral for COVID for those same people.

Lumping people who don’t get a flu shot into the same group as those who aren’t getting the COVID vaccine is not a fair comparison.

[Aristus]

78. Sure it is.

Choosing not to get the flu vaccine shows just as much indifference to the prospect of spreading the infection as choosing not to get the COVID vaccine.

Like I said above: I’ve heard this all before, and it’s horseshit. Other than a clinically-defined allergy, there is no reason for declining the vaccine that outweighs the potential benefits of getting it.

Personally, I think declining immunization for other than allergy ought to come with a charge of depraved indifference to human life. So I guess it’s best that my license is for practicing medicine and not law.

[Ms. Toad]

47. COVID is not the flu. And as a medical professional, I'm sure you know that.

Nor is the flu vaccine (at less than 50% effectiveness every year since 2013-14) the COVID vaccine (at 75%-95%)

[Aristus]

54. Yes, of course I know that.

I also know that vaccination against both is a better preventative than just washing one’s hands and proclaiming “I never get sick.”

People love to point out to me (as if I hadn’t known before they did) that the yearly flu vaccine is rarely more effective than 75%.

They usually go away without a response when I point out to them that even as little as a 25% partial immunity can be the difference between life and death.

We’ve done this before. You know you’re not going to succeed in getting me to back off my “Get your vaccination” stand.

[Ms. Toad]

64. You've got your facts wrong.

The flu vaccine has not been more than 50% effective since 2013-14. It has not, in the history of the CDC publicly available information been higher than 60%. So your assertion that it has "rarely . . . more than 75%" is a vast exaggeration of reality.

The effectiveness the past few seasons has been 19%, 48%, 40%, 38%, 29%, and 39%. In other words piss poor. As for being the difference between life and death - the flu is not COVID. While it can be deadly, it is not ordinarily deadly - and when it is deadly it hits relatively predictable categories - unlike COVID which is much more random both as to death and serious consequences. No influenza since 1918 has killed even 10% as many people as COVID has, let alone come anywhere close to the long term non-fatal consequences.

My point is that the decision about whether to be vaccinated against the flu is objectively different from the decision to be vaccinated agaist COVID, both because of the relative effectiveness of the vaccines, and the potential consequences to both the vaccinated individual and the population at large of the disease itself.

[crimycarny]

77. Agree 100%

Another problem is that often people who get the flu shot think they are 100% protected so become lax about hand washing and basic hygiene. Then the pass it on because the get the flu despite being vaccinated.

I’m not arguing against the flu shot by any means, but I bristle at the suggestion that it’s the ONLY way or even best way to prevent the flu because some years that isn’t even close to being true. People still need to wash their hands, stay home if sick, and get their doctor to prescribe antivirals if they do get sick.

[CanonRay]

19. He doesn't deserve

either a ventilator or even an ICU bed. Sorry, I'm all out of shits to give.

[IronLionZion]

24. Lots of MAGAts don't believe Trump was vaccinated

because he did it quietly and no pics. Reporters have told them he was vaccinated but they still refuse to believe it.

Pence, Abbott, and others did it publicly in front of cameras but they don't care about that either.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. It really is not Donald Trump's fault that

the man he just intubated is likely to die. The man chose to believe bullshit over science. It's not as though the vaccine only became available last month. By now every single person over the age of 12 could have been vaccinated, and soon it will be approved for younger children.

Better to place blame on churches and school boards that hamper the teaching of science, especially of evolution. Those are the real culprits.

[paleotn]

29. Good point. Donnie Covid didn't put a gun to his head.

They are the party of "personal responsibility" after all.

[keithsw]

32. They don't care how many die

Actually, they want MORE to die. They think it will reflect badly on President Biden

[malaise]

33. Here's where I've reached

If you choose the Slobfather's BS over the experts, self-weeding is not a bad option.
I have no tears to shed

[Initech]

41. Yeah I'm kind of the same way.

Seriously infuriating at this point.

[malaise]

34. Here's where I've reached

If you choose the Slobfather's BS over the experts, self-weeding is not a bad option.
I have no tears to shed

[Thunderbeast]

35. Surrounding all of this Covid denial

is a sense of invulnerability surrounding those who will not roll up their sleeves. They have an inflated ego that tells them that as one of the "good people" they are blessed with a robust immune system. (How do they know?...Do they just "feel" immune?).

Their bubble of protection is earned because they fly the flag, kinda-sorta believe in Jeebus, watch Fox News, drive a one-ton pickup to the grocery store, and would rather watch "The Bachelorette" than "Frontline".

[DenaliDemocrat]

37. Yeah but he OWNED the libtards

Totally worth it!

[Initech]

43. Worth it!

[P-Nutt]

40. Darwin Lives On

And the disbelievers keep dying.

[smirkymonkey]

44. What is shocking to me lately is how many young people are now dying from this.

When it first came out, it primarily affected the elderly and very sick, but now the young and healthy are dying and suffering severe consequences if they haven't been vaccinated. I hope this scares enough people into taking this virus more seriously, but I am not getting my hopes up.

[yardwork]

72. The new Delta variant seems to affect young people more than the original strain.

[turbinetree]

49. And this man's impending cause of death? Donald fucking Trump.

And what is really remarkable is that Donald fucking Trump got vaccinated and didn't tell anyone and will not come out publicly and tell people to get vaccinated.....he really is a malignant narcissist.....who doesn't give a rats ass about the person in the death bed or anyone else....and 30% of the population still believe......

[Initech]

53. Yup. Bought into the propaganda coming from the former Asshole-In-Chief himself.

Also Facebook trolls like Marjorie Greene and Aubrey Huff, who are peddling the lie about the vaccine and health aren't helping things either.

Well I guess on the flipside there will be less people to vote for him in 2024 if this trend keeps up.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

55. I'm sorry, but that man is responsible for himself.

Anyone stupid enough to believe Trump and all the other Covid deniers, is, well, stupid. He honestly has no one to blame but himself. It's been kept a secret that this virus can be quite deadly and that the vaccine is highly effective. Plus, it's readily available here, unlike in many parts of the world.

[lunatica]

51. COVID 19 is doing it's part to fix stupid.

[pansypoo53219]

57. trump MADE covid-19 political. faith-based politics i call it.

trump is their lord + savior.

[Moebym]

62. This guy is exactly my age.

At this age, we should expect to live another 40-50 years barring any accidents. Because he wanted to believe Donald Trump had his interests at heart, he will die at the prime of his life.

What an utter waste.

[Initech]

67. Yeah I turned 41 this year.

And to me after having lived this long it is fucking insane to me that people would rather die than get an injection that takes like literally 5 seconds to get and will protect you from ending up on a ventilator or worse. These people are throwing their lives away because they believe in stupid bullshit. It's infuriating.

[LeftInTX]

68. Today we talked to a black woman, who was full of conspriracy theories beyond believe...

She said the govt was trying to take over their bodies...

[brewens]

70. Those guys would be having flag humpin', vax/boat parades and shit if the FG

was squatting in the White House and telling them to. I wonder how many are killing themselves trying to ride it out at home? They should a far as I'm concerned, but all the way. Don't go crawling into and ER begging for help after you helped fill the place up.

[Prichards115]

73. Not sorry

We are better off without these dunning Kruger morons