Thread by @math_rachel

I’m hearing more people in Australia talk about wanting to "live with Covid", even though only 22% of the population is fully vaccinated. #LivingWithCovid (combined with low vaccination rates) means… 1/

Living with Covid (+ low vaccine rates) is:
- Delaying surgery for cancer, organ transplants, brain tumors
- waiting an hour to get an ambulance after heart attack
- turning medical emergency into a catastrophe, b/c the hospital is maxed out
- millions disabled with LongCovid 2/

Living with covid is not just the death count, it is 10-30% of so-called "mild" cases becoming permanently disabled with LongCovid, which can include debilitating neurological effects and constant pain. 3/

financialpost.com/news/economy/l…

Young, previously healthy people (including children) are getting LongCovid. The narrative of covid only being a risk to the elderly has been false from the start. 4/

Nobody is arguing that we should lock down forever. But we need to have enough of the population vaccinated (including children) to reduce the risk of overflowing hospitals and of leaving millions permanently disabled. 5/

Many who are healthy now have a myth of their own invulnerability-- not realizing that by accident or illness, they could desperately need the medical system, or that a virus could forever disable them. 6/

Here is a thread on a few ways #LivingWithCovid has impacted the USA medical system, including delayed cancer surgeries, waiting over 10 days for surgery due to gunshot wounds, and medication shortages 7/

https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1248363845250355201