Craig Spencer MD MPH Profile picture
Dec 27, 2021 10 tweets 2 min read Read on X
I’ve seen a lot of Covid in the ER recently.

With so many people getting infected recently, some folks may wonder what’s the point of getting vaccinated at all?

And is there really any value to a booster dose if I’ve had two Pfizer/Moderna or a shot of J&J?

My observations: 🧵
Every patient I’ve seen with Covid that’s had a 3rd ‘booster’ dose has had mild symptoms.

By mild I mean mostly sore throat. Lots of sore throat. Also some fatigue, maybe some muscle pain.

No difficulty breathing. No shortness of breath.

All a little uncomfortable, but fine.
Most patients I’ve seen that had 2 doses of Pfizer/Moderna still had ‘mild’ symptoms, but more than those who had received a third dose.

More fatigued. More fever. More coughing. A little more miserable overall.

But no shortness of breath. No difficulty breathing.

Mostly fine.
Most patients I’ve seen that had one dose of J&J and had Covid were worse overall. Felt horrible. Fever for a few days (or more).

Weak, tired. Some shortness of breath and cough.

But not one needing hospitalization. Not one needing oxygen.

Not great. But not life-threatening.
And almost every single patient that I’ve taken care of that needed to be admitted for Covid has been unvaccinated.

Every one with profound shortness of breath. Every one whose oxygen dropped when they walked. Every one needing oxygen to breath regularly.
The point is you’re gonna hear about a LOT of people getting Covid in the coming days and weeks.

Those that have been vaccinated and got a booster dose will mostly fare well with minimal symptoms.

Those getting two doses might have a few more symptoms, but should still do well.
Those who got a single J&J similarly may have more symptoms, but have more protection than the unvaccinated (if you got a single dose of J&J, please get another vaccine dose—preferably Pfizer or Moderna—ASAP!)

But as I’ve witnessed in the ER, the greatest burden still falls on…
The unvaccinated. Those who haven’t gotten a single dose of vaccine.

They’re the most likely to need oxygen. They’re the most likely to have complications. They’re the most likely to get admitted. And the most likely to stay in the hospital for days or longer with severe Covid.
These are all just observations from my recent shifts in the ER.

But the same has been borne out by local and national data showing that the unvaccinated make up a very disproportionate share of those with severe disease, needing hospitalization, and dying from Covid.
So no matter your political affiliation, or thoughts on masks, or where you live in this country, as an ER doctor you’d trust with your life if you rolled into my emergency room at 3am, I promise you that you’d rather face the oncoming Omicron wave vaccinated.

Please be safe. ❤️

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Craig Spencer MD MPH

Craig Spencer MD MPH Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Craig_A_Spencer

Mar 26
The U.S. has actively dismantled the global disease-detection programs we all—including Americans—rely on to stay safe

Today this administration’s short-sighted global health agenda got even even worse

It’s ending its support for vaccine programs around the world

Why?? 🧵 Image
With unnecessary haste, the Trump administration is pulling funding from GAVI.

GAVI is a massive force in global health.

Since starting in 2000, it has saved millions of lives around the world through vaccination

Gift link to @nytimes story by @snolen
nytimes.com/2025/03/26/hea…
It is focused on getting vaccines to people around the world who need them

For routine immunization…

And also for really important but less common diseases like Ebola

To date, they’ve vaccinated over a billion kids!!!

They are irreplaceable. Losing GAVI would be disastrous.
Read 17 tweets
Mar 12
I just watched the whole RFK Jr—Hannity interview where they discuss measles.

I don't know what to say.

I'm really just speechless.

Listening to health leadership bungle basic facts at best—and tell outright lies about long-settled science at worst—is just SO disappointing.
No, the measles vaccine does NOT wane by 4.5% every year!

He's confusing the measles vaccine for the mumps vaccine, which does wane.

No, Vitamin A is NOT a cure-all, even if it CAN help.

The vaccine is BY FAR the safest way to stay safe.
He keeps saying natural immunity gives you better protection long-term...

But he never says that a measles infection can cause 'immune amnesia', suppressing your immune system immediately and for years after.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 3
The World Health Organization just released an update on the cluster of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There's a lot in here, and I'll break it down below.

But the biggest takeaway?

We are SO lucky to have WHO doing this work...

who.int/emergencies/di…
This cluster was first detected in early February in the northwestern part of DR Congo.

So far 55 deaths have been reported.

The deaths were quick—many reported in 24 hrs after symptom onset.

Ebola and Marburg testing was negative Image
Most deaths are in young people, especially males.

50% of those tested for malaria were positive...so it might explain SOME of this, but not ALL of this.

From the report: "working hypotheses include chemical poisoning or a rapid onset bacterial meningitis cluster" Image
Read 7 tweets
Feb 26
Make a huge mistake. Then make a false claim about how you fixed it.

They did it for PEPFAR.

Now Ebola.

I follow this particular topic VERY closely, so here's what really happened and why this isn't true AT ALL...🧵
On January 29, Uganda reported an Ebola outbreak.

Normally the U.S. would've very quickly sent one of our Ebola experts to help the response.

But this time, we didn't.

Because we couldn't.

Because this administration wouldn't let them go right when this outbreak was declared.
And normally the U.S. would've helped set up border screening and other measures on the ground.

But this time, we didn't.

Normally, we would've spoke with the WHO about helping end the outbreak.

But this time, we didn't.

Because CDC staff weren't even allowed to talk to them.
Read 6 tweets
Feb 16
There was an ‘Ebola scare’ in NYC.

Or, at least there was on social media.

Viral posts manufactured a lot of things that just weren’t true.

NYC health commissioner already debunking this misinformation.

BUT this event DOES highlight something that is really important… 🧵 Image
In ‘normal’ times—that is, before we slashed USAID and CDC—we would’ve had a lot of boots on the ground responding to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Marburg outbreak in Tanzania.

Guess what, now we don’t.

Because with the new Trump admin restrictions, we couldn’t.
In ‘normal’ times, USAID would’ve help establish border screenings at the airports to detect cases before they could get on a plane.

Guess what, this time they didn’t.

Thankfully, WHO stepped up this time.

Who knows what’ll happen next time.
Read 8 tweets
Dec 22, 2024
It’s being reported that the Trump administration plans to withdraw from the World Health Organization on day one.

This is not a huge surprise.

But it IS an absolutely stupid and self-defeating move.

And I say this as a longtime critic of the WHO…🧵
The first time the Trump administration tried to withdraw from the WHO back in 2020, I wrote for @USATODAY what we needed to do was build up, not tear down, the WHO.

Despite its faults, the WHO plays a huge role as ‘our eyes and ears around the world.’

usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
There is no other organization with the relationships and buy-in to do the critical work needed to keep us ALL safe—including us here in the U.S.

The WHO also has critical partnerships & programs that we benefit from for vaccines and critical health data

who.int/initiatives/gl…
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(