Thread by @LazarusLong13

The HICPAC Public Comments threaded.

I tried to do a quick synopsis. I will add more tomorrow. Please tag folks you recognize.

I apologize in advance for some very butchered spelling of names and brevity.

The value is not in my words - but theirs.

Here is the HICPAC schedule, so keep in mind that we still need to comment on their draft after tomorrow.

And without further adieu....

Mary Germanus, @PeoplesCDC

Many HCWs refuse to mask, and continue to expose people. Are HICPAC and CDC prioritizing profits over our health?

Dr. Rosalie A Bright, retired federal epidemiologist. Nails almost every single point that I personally would have made.

Maria Castro has been avoiding healthcare because of current practices. HICPAC and CDC should be serving the public. They are not . They should be educating about the risks of Covid. They are not.

No places are requiring masking for vaccinations.

Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, nurse, President (if I heard that correctly) of @NationalNurses.

The CDC did not have the draft available before this meeting so there was no perspective from: Frontline nurses, immunocompromised, aerosol scientists, engineers, etc.

Eric Berg, Deputy Chief of Health for Cal OSHA. Very interesting sharing of Aerosol Law that is more protective and trumps CDC's recommendations. But many employers use CDC to skirt the law.

Cal OSHA recommended elastomerics for the PPE shortage.

Don Ford - our brains are vulnerable to SARS2, and it is respirators that protect the most against it.

(My apologies, you spoke very quickly, and I am tired).

Chloe Humbert - why do HCP say they are following CDC's guidelines in not actually masking up? Is the high-faluting HICPAC simply about saving money for the corporations - and has no patient advocates?

The HICPAC is Koch's Brownstone Institute.

Naomi Baryam, @TheWHN

It's no longer 2007, with a pandemic 80 years ago. We are in the middle of a pandemic. HICPAC needs more diverse voices.

@joaquinlife- calling for respirators, improve ventilation, bring back reporting of hospital acquired infections. By def, every patient is vulnerable.

Pharmaceuticals are not enough.

Megan Cunningham, mother of an immunocompromised child. SC2 is not the last pandemic. More are coming.

Having to beg for HCWs to mask up, who still refuse.

Jay Herzmurg (sorry!) - nurse, registered Industrial Hygenist,

IPC tends to just listen to itself. But physics is physics, and the laws of physics apply to healthcare. But, it's like talking to a TV.

Dr. Sharif, (also sorry!) nephrologist and physician.partnering with National Nurses United. HICPAC did not discuss LongCovid at all. Surgical masks can be as low as 8% IPE, but is being recommended as part of the Standard Transmission.

Lisa Foreman, nurse practitioner.
Half of all HCWs go to work with symptomatic Covid. Overall, over half of all transmission is with no symptoms.

Massive amount of preventive healthcare has been missed due to no masking in healthcare.

Danielle Pack, patient from Michigan. Caught Covid at a Dr office while seeking postpartum care.

HICPAC should be strengthening IPC as we are in the middle of a pandemic.

She has a great demand list! Eg. A few minutes of public comment at the END?

And let me add - I appreciated EVERY SINGLE COMMENTER. THEY ALL brought their A-game..

Christine Braille. Her son is immunocompromised and has LongCovid. Infected by his home infusion nurse who refused to mask properly.

Covid is airborne, definitively, and without question.

"We got to see the disease transmitting smiles of the Drs..."

Wow ...that is a must listen. Just wow.

Last one coming up.....

Dr. Andrew Wang, doctorate and masters in public health, of @PeoplesCDC.

Showed graciousness towards the HICPAC members, and urged more protection than less.

@PeoplesCDC My final take-away - we cannot go quiet into the night.

The 1918 pandemic, and many other pandemics are noted for the silence afterwards.

We must make our mark. Loudly and proudly.

We are still here. We deserve better from the hospital corporations, and the droplet

@PeoplesCDC dogmatists that still run the bulk of IPC.

They are wrong, but revolutions in thought take time and effort.

In the meantime, contact your local representatives and ask them why an illegal committee is setting policy minus key input.

Tweet at them.
usa.gov/elected-offici…

@PeoplesCDC Call them the next day.

Email them the 3rd day.

You can have a much bigger impact than you think!

@PeoplesCDC This @DrJudyStone article is a great starting point that lays out the issue cogently.

forbes.com/sites/judyston…