Invited to a destination wedding earlier in Apr. Awesome place that holds a special place in my ❤️(Vail). Lots of people I miss. All #vaxxed. Many boosted. No masks required. No rapid tests. Declined. One positive couple next AM. Groom & all but 4 guests got #COVID19. #pandemic
In care you’re wondering who did NOT get infected, the common elements were 4 doses of #COVID19 vaccine OR known/suspected past infection + 3 doses of vaccine, with last dose being recent.
That includes the bride. But if you want to know how to put that “in sickness and in health” thing in action, having discordant #COVID19 test results when you should be honeymooning is one way. 🤒👎
I now know where Paxlovid is & isn’t available is about a third of US states.
Did I mention that a bunch of these people flew home & then tested positive within 24-48 hrs? Who knows how many people they passed virus to? What a mess, friends. #GetBoosted#WearAMask
Importantly despite (considerable) difficulty accessing monoclonal antibody or oral antiviral treatment, incl some who very much qualify, no one is hospitalized, no one has died. The jab did the job. #VaccinesWork. #GetBoosted
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Well, it was fun while it lasted. And remember that official case counts are just the tip of the iceberg. Most people are being diagnosed via rapid testing at home & never appear in these totals at all. If you aren’t #Boosted, now’s the time. #MaskUp#COVID19
Let me add that my major reason for concern at this point is less about deaths in the short-term. Though we continue to lose a couple thousand Americans per wk to #COVID19, & it wasn’t mild for any of them, deaths are much lower than they’ve been in a long time. /2
I’m worried about the people we are now seeing with persistent cognitive impairment (like early dementia kind of symptoms), given that we now know #COVID19 can shrink the brain even in otherwise “mild” cases. forbes.com/sites/williamh…
I am a dr who has dedicated her career to people w/ #cancer.
I am the grateful daughter of a #lymphoma survivor.
I have #asthma.
Why wouldn't I #wearamask if it might prevent an illness, death, or #longcovid disability?
If you find masks uncomfortable, I can suggest some to try.
(And then I'm going to talk to you for the ENTIRE flight & all the way down the terminal to baggage claim & ground transportation about masks, so be ready if you're in the seat next to me & do this. Might be better just to #WearAMask.😂)
And then when I change your mind, you'll be in an airplane thumbs-up selfie with me wearing your favorite of the several brands of spare N95 masks I have in my backpack.
.@Delta@united@americanair @southwest, can y'all break it down for us why seatbelts, why bags "fully under seat," why seat backs & tray tables "full upright & locked position for landing"? We can't choose to risk ourselves & others at risk on the plane...or something? #maskup🤷♀️
You know, it's a hassle to have to contort myself to get my bag out from under the seat when we arrive. And I often have to make slides on my flights. I like to use every minute to work on them from boarding to exiting. Also it's a lot easier to do that with the tray table down.
It's almost as if you expect passengers to sacrifice their own needs & comfort a little for the safety of themselves & those around them. That's wild. I thought we had quit that.
The more I think about airlines abruptly allowing mask removal w/o warning—mid-flight for many—the angrier I get. People who are #immunocompromised had no choice not to travel or to upgrade their protection at that point. Some will go on to die. As an oncologist, I am enraged.
If you haven’t had #cancer or been a caregiver to someone with it, you don’t know how much people endure. I’m a breast oncologist. Our patients have breasts amputated, lose their fertility, go bald, risk nerve damage, infection, & more from chemo, because they want to live.
The fact that the airlines made a corporate decision to drop masks w/o warning—any airline could’ve chosen to give crew/passengers hrs or days of notice—disgusts me. For an industry that prides itself on safety, this is a fail.
Trying hard to stay in my lane on #UkraineUnderAttack. I’m a physician, not a foreign policy expert. But per AP, Russian attacks have just caused a fire at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, & elev radiation levels are being detected in the region. That is a big deal.
Tweet 3/3: Here’s an article on the attack. Ukrainian firefighters attempting to extinguish the blaze at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are reportedly being shot at by Russian troops & cannot safely get through.
🧵As a scientist & physician, when our #pandemic predictions are off, I think it's important to circle back & analyze why. In late Dec 2021, I tweeted a🧵predicting widespread disruption of everything from health care & pharmacies to grocery stores & schools in Jan/Feb '22. 1/x
The reason for my prediction was the pattern of a huge spike in #COVID19 cases the prior winter (driven in part by holiday travel) & the fact that #omicron was considerably more contagious than prior #COVIDvariants & more able to evade immunity from vaccines or prior infxn. 2/x
The pace in growth of cases in Dec '21 in countries w/ early #Omicron outbreaks was stunning. The graphs were vertical. In the US, we appeared on target to have >500K cases/d in the US. We had no idea yet how long the surge would last. 3/x