Health and Sanity category archive

Stuart Blume offers thorough look at the concept of “herd immunity.” Methinks that it is a worthwhile read in these viral times. A nugget:

What about actual vaccination decisions? Do people know about herd immunity? Largely speaking, no, they don’t. At least prior to the pandemic, most people were unfamiliar with the concept. Do they care? Are vaccination decisions influenced by a sense of obligation, a social contract with the community? Is vaccination seen as a collective task involving shared responsibility for vulnerable neighbors?

On the whole, no. In one study, for example, participants reported that their personal decisions were unaffected by whether people around them were vaccinated or not. Even among those who said they were influenced by their social network, few referred to herd immunity specifically. Some people recognized that childhood immunization had indirect benefits to the community. Nevertheless, they thought about immunizing their own children in terms of what they saw as their child’s benefit.

I must say that, when I was eagerly anticipated getting vaccinated against COVID, I was thinking primarily of my own safety and that of those around me, but I was also thinking of the society as a whole. Perhaps that’s because I’m old enough to remember pictures of little children (my age at the time) in iron lungs because of polio and how, once Dr. Salk and then Dr. Sabin perfected their vaccines, those pictures (and polio) went away.

I saw with my own eyes dramatic proof of the effectiveness of vaccines, and my mind goggles at portion of our populace which denies the evidence of things seen.

The stupid. It burns.

The Bangor Daily News investigates the exodus of health care workers in the second year of the pandemic. According to the story, most of the persons leaving the field worked for hospitals and nursing homes, facilities hit hardest by COVID-19. The work force at those facilities is down by about 10% in Maine, about half the national average. Some have left heath care completely; others are moving to less stressful areas within the profession.

Follow the link for details; here’s a bit that I think is particularly significant (emphasis added):

While many staffers hoped the COVID-19 vaccine could bring an end to the pandemic, nurses have instead been faced with a new reality: treating patients who wouldn’t have had critical or fatal illnesses had they gotten vaccinated. They say it’s really what defined the difference between care in 2021 versus 2020, when a vaccine was not publicly available.

“It’s always felt a little frustrating to treat someone for something that’s preventable,” Oberson said. “People claiming it’s not real or that it’s not serious when you are seeing it first-hand.”

And, in more news of Vaccine Nation . . . .