Thread by @DrRupaMarya

This #Delta surge shows me the cost of our siloed education system. The ID doctors and immunologists pushed the narrative that it was fine to discard the masks if you were vaccinated and encouraged full opening. They didn't see this through the lens of the sociologists, 1/n

who were looking closely at what 80% vaccination rate meant and who was counted and who was *not counted.* The way our society and economy are structured in the US is dependent on an invisible, undocumented workforce who bore the brunt of the pandemic in places like CA, 2/n

means that those rates are fuzzy. Undocumented folks make a life out of being uncounted, because their survival and keeping their families intact depend upon it.


While the work of @MargotKushel and @DrKim in the Bay has been exemplary, reaching into these and other 3/n

communities where the virus has spread, the work of keeping everyone safe cannot be relegated to a few doctors or projects.

It must be systemic. This includes dismantling those systems of terror that leave undocumented folks afraid to engage healthcare. 4/n

Yes, in an ideal world 80% vaccinated would mean 80%. But people also travel here from places where they don’t like to mask and don’t care to get vaccinated. There are so many patterns in human behavior that make the better part of care the act of simply staying masked and 5/n

distanced until we see the most vulnerable people safe.

Let’s start creating that culture of care now. We failed the first attempts, leaving 8000 unhoused people outside with toxic air and a pandemic. This virus and climate change will keep coming until we get it right. #MaskUp

@RheaBoydMD @BreeNewsome @uche_blackstock @EdwinLindo @wkamaubell @annalappe @PODERSF