A COVID Surge Overwhelming Hospitals, Raising Fears of Rationed Care

Most epidemiologists expect Covid to eventually tone down into a seasonally recurring virus like the flu. And just like the flu, people with access to good health care will have the option to get vaccinated against it. Or not.

Thanks for posting that link, @Don M. It's another reminder to continue cautious behavior, particularly during these spikes.

I feel so sorry for healthcare providers, particularly when seriously ill unvaccinated people show up in their hospitals begging for healthcare - neither questioning or caring what's being pumped into their arms because they're so desperate to get well. These are the same people who, for the previous 8 months, loudly eschewed the vaccine because they "didn't trust big pharma or what was in that vaccine."

No wonder nurses are leaving the profession in droves.
 

StarSong said:
Most epidemiologists expect Covid to eventually tone down into a seasonally recurring virus like the flu. And just like the flu, people with access to good health care will have the option to get vaccinated against it. Or not.

Thanks for posting that link, @Don M. It's another reminder to continue cautious behavior, particularly during these spikes.

I feel so sorry for healthcare providers, particularly when seriously ill unvaccinated people show up in their hospitals begging for healthcare - neither questioning or caring what's being pumped into their arms because they're so desperate to get well. These are the same people who, for the previous 8 months, loudly eschewed the vaccine because they "didn't trust big pharma or what was in that vaccine."

No wonder nurses are leaving the profession in droves.
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There have been infectious disease scientists who said from the first that Covid will stay with us based on the fact that there's never been a successful vaccine for any virus in the coronavirus family. That's changed a bit since the current vaccines do significanty lessen severity. So hope for one someday that will eradicate it. As for access to vaccines, here in Mississippi they are available in every county in multiple locations free of charge and always will be at county heath departments for indigent people.

It's not making the news much, but more heathcare providers than are being openly acknowledged who are still waiting to see about long-term side effects, have medical reasons to abstain, have had Covid and understand the superiority of natural immunity are choosing not to vaccinate at present so are leaving jobs that require it. Most medical facilities will likely start accepting antibody titers from previously infected employees who choose not to vaccinate. That's already the norm for diseases such as Hepatitis B. Immunity is immunity whether due to infection or vaccine. That's why I advocate immunity passports rather than vaccine passports.

Immunity passports thread:
https://www.seniorforums.com/thread...covering-both-recovered-and-vaccinated.64007/

As for healthcare workers in the thick of it, I cannot fathom how exhausted they must be. Some surely resent the unvaccinated, some understand healthcare choice and most all are probably incensed at the very ill coming in who were given nothing at the time of their positive test other than the outdated and extremely dangerous advice to go home and seek medical help if they become short of breath.
 
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Don M. said:
The longer this pandemic continues, the more our health care system will decline. Here's an ominous indication of what the future may bring, especially for Seniors.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/older-patients-could-denied-treatment-161100236.html

With more and more hospitals reaching capacity, and providers/nurses being overwhelmed (some even leaving the profession), hospitals may soon have to start making decisions on who they will treat.
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This was considered in 2020 in many states when the hospitals were filling up.

This time is worse because of the vaccine mandate. Medical professionals are either walking out or being fired, leaving an even larger lack of health care professionals, so even more exhaustion now for remaining medical personnel.
 

Becky1951 said:
This was considered in 2020 in many states when the hospitals were filling up.

This time is worse because of the vaccine mandate. Medical professionals are either walking out or being fired, leaving an even larger lack of health care professionals, so even more exhaustion now for remaining medical personnel.
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That's what happens when people's rights are violated. It backfires.
And medical personnel have more knowledge than the average patient, so if they refuse a Covid vaccine, there is good reason.
 
Dancing_Queen said:
The reason only some people are being required to take the vaccine is that Biden can do only what he's allowed to do by law and the Constitution. It's amazing the outreach that's being done in my Florida county to reach illegals, but Biden has no control over mandates in that or most other areas. Through OSHA he does have control over employees of large companies. Of course, we need to remember that OSHA has almost no manpower or budget; so, in the vast majority of cases, all that this will do is give cover to employers who have wanted to require vaccines, but were facing huge opposition.

"Sweeping new mandates apply to businesses with more than 100 employees, whose workers would have to be inoculated or face weekly testing."

He isn't requiring vaccines without regard for their health; they have the option of weekly testing.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/09/covid-vaccine-requirement-businesses/
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The President has no power to mandate vaccines. This power belongs to the states. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled on two previous suits and by consensus of the justices ruled that the 14th Amendment states that only the states have this power.

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/current-constitutional-issues-related-to-vaccine-mandates

Because the President has excluded the Postal workers, which exceed 400,000 people, this Amendment applies under the language of “Equal protection of the laws.” However, the President has already ignored the USSC on two occasions, so this mandate may make it three. I don’t believe we want any President to have this power, otherwise, what would stop that person from mandating any vaccine? Something for all of us to think about.
 
Been There said:
The President has no power to mandate vaccines. This power belongs to the states. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled on two previous suits and by consensus of the justices ruled that the 14th Amendment states that only the states have this power.

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/current-constitutional-issues-related-to-vaccine-mandates

Because the President has excluded the Postal workers, which exceed 400,000 people, this Amendment applies under the language of “Equal protection of the laws.” However, the President has already ignored the USSC on two occasions, so this mandate may make it three. I don’t believe we want any President to have this power, otherwise, what would stop that person from mandating any vaccine? Something for all of us to think about.
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I have great respect for the Constitution Center, Been There. However, I don't see that the article you posted specifically states that this mandate won't fly.

Biden's using OSHA; OSHA is required to see to the safety and healthfulness of the workplace. This may or may not be held up in court. Further, it will take many months just to write the regulations necessary. And then, as I said, OSHA is extremely restricted in resources and so won't be able to do all that much enforcement. All the mandate really does is give cover to those companies who want to require the vaccine and are feeling great negative pressure. This article discusses the problems:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/gover...-will-test-us-workplace-regulator-2021-09-13/
 
This may be happening all over the world: Today I went to my dentist, and we started talking about how hard it is to provide safe care in this age of Covid. He is positively livid about the idiots who are still refusing to get the vaccine. He says he will examine them once, but if they need any additional treatment, he refuses to treat anyone who is not vaccinated. He says he shouldn't be required to put himself and his dedicated staff at risk because of someone else's insanity.

And he's usually a very mild-mannered man; I've been going to him for years and never heard him express anger before. I have a feeling a lot of medical professionals may be at the end of their rope.
 
Study: U.S. spent $5.7 billion for treating unvaccinated Covid-19 patients in the last 3 months
EBay Times by CNN.COM: September 14, 2021
(Note: this may be a subscriber link, sorry) https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/0...nated-covid-19-patients-in-the-last-3-months/

(excerpt)
A new analysis published Tuesday estimates that preventable costs for treating hospitalized, unvaccinated Covid-19 patients reached $5.7 billion over the last three months.

This most recent data takes into account the surge in hospitalizations seen in August, which study authors estimate accounted for $3.7 billion of preventable spending alone.

The data analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation found, using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as studies on health care costs, that each preventable Covid-19 hospitalization costs about $20,000.

According to KFF’s analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US saw 287,000 preventable Covid-19 hospitalizations from June to August.

The study authors used “preventable” hospitalizations to refer to hospitalizations of unvaccinated adults for Covid-19 treatment primarily, while accounting for any post-vaccination infections that would have been expected if this population had been vaccinated.

These numbers together yield a total of $5.7 billion spent on preventable hospitalizations over three months. The study authors said this number is likely a conservative estimate of costs. “This ballpark figure is likely an understatement of the cost burden from preventable treatment of Covid-19 among unvaccinated adults,” the authors said.

The study did not account for outpatient care costs, and some data indicates inpatient health care costs for Covid-19 treatment may be higher than the $20,000 figure used.

“Additionally, although breakthrough infections and hospitalizations are rare, unvaccinated people are also more likely to spread the virus to those who have taken measures to protect themselves and others, and those costs are not included in these estimates,” the authors wrote.
 
Sunny said:
This may be happening all over the world: Today I went to my dentist, and we started talking about how hard it is to provide safe care in this age of Covid. He is positively livid about the idiots who are still refusing to get the vaccine. He says he will examine them once, but if they need any additional treatment, he refuses to treat anyone who is not vaccinated. He says he shouldn't be required to put himself and his dedicated staff at risk because of someone else's insanity.

And he's usually a very mild-mannered man; I've been going to him for years and never heard him express anger before. I have a feeling a lot of medical professionals may be at the end of their rope.
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Your dentist is a can short of a six-pack.
If he really thought an unvaccinated patient would put himself and his staff at risk, why would he "examine them once?"
 
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