Thread by @drlucymcbride

I’m on call this weekend for my group medical practice. Lots of vax’d patients w COVID—cough, sore throat, headache, body aches, fatigue. Mild to severe.

Other top symptoms?

Guilt
Shame
Fear

“I did everything right.” “I feel like a failure.” “Doctor, I’m terrified.” 1/x

Even if ppl know intellectually that their risk for severe illness is greatly reduced after vax, fear is natural & real. It’s *normal* to get scared when a rapid home test turns positive or when we’re notified abt a positive PCR test 2/x

So when I’m talking to a newly-diagnosed COVID patient, we go thru their symptoms, decide +/- ER care, discuss various treatment options from Ibuprofen to monoclonal Abs & oral antiviral meds (latter for high-risk patients), & how to monitor themselves at home. 3/x

But perhaps more importantly, I help tamp down patients’ (natural) anxiety over their new COVID diagnosis by dispensing data & by *framing* their risk. I remind them how very well the vaccine continues to work against death & severe disease. Exactly how good is good? 4/x

The @CDCgov’s newest data on ppl vax’d w only 2 doses is incredibly reassuring. Let’s take a look: 5/x

https://twitter.com/erictopol/status/1484361931146203137

…plus, on top of the protection of two doses, booster shots drop risk of death/severe disease for people at highest risk—despite what some fear-based headlines suggest: 6/x

https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1484175023837532160

Vaccination also reduces the risk for Long COVID:
7/x

https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1483166149110116353

So far Omicron seems to be less severe than Delta - even in unvax’d kids < age 5 (see study below). When I explain this & other data to my patients with little ones, it seems to help patients’ natural anxiety 👇 8/x

https://twitter.com/TracyBethHoeg/status/1482896067519647746

Indeed for so many parents, these feelings can be crushing. I can hear it through the phone as I’m talking to them 9/x

https://twitter.com/drlucymcbride/status/1484322340548669441

Somehow along the way we have moralized human behavior. We’ve associated a COVID diagnosis with recklessness/carelessness/disdain for other ppl when, in reality, getting COVID simply means we’re human. It means …. 10/x

… that we weren’t able to sequester ourselves in a bubble for 22 months. Getting COVID-19 means that we need to work, parent, send kids to school, see loved ones.

Particularly w a highly transmissible variant circulating, getting COVID right now means we breathe air. …11/x

At this moment of the pandemic, I call on all of us to make empathy great again. To allow ourselves some self-compassion for getting sick or exposed & for having needs & responsibilities *beyond* simply not getting COVID-19. ….12/x

Getting COVID isn’t inevitable, but being exposed to the virus in our lifetime *is.*

We cannot eliminate risk; we can only mitigate it. And we should.

We must build *trust* in the vaccines to limit ongoing deaths, disease & despair (including fear). 13/x

We also need to recognize how hard it is for anyone—no matter our life situation—to maintain vigilance x 2 yrs.

Not everyone can “stay home,” “be safe,” “ stay strong.”

Our vulnerabilities & pandemic experiences vary widely.

14/x

Getting COVID isn’t a moral failure; it’s part of being human.

15/x

We can & should continue to do the best we can to minimize the potential harms of infection w/out losing sight of the other ubiquitous risks in our everyday life—& the importance of reaching our broad human needs for our overall health & wellbeing. ……16/x

Mitigating health harms includes turning the *volume up* on facts & self-compassion & turning the *volume down* on judgement & shame.

Let’s accept the things we cannot control, work on the things we can, & have the wisdom to know the difference.

/end

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…