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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Millions of People Stuck in Pandemic Limbo
Link to tweet
Matthew Gertz
@MattGertz
"The most common request I heard was: 'Just have a heart. Regardless of your own choices, dont jeer at us for being mindful of our higher risks, and definitely dont tell us that our lives are worth less.'"
theatlantic.com
The Millions of People Stuck in Pandemic Limbo
What does society owe immunocompromised people?
8:49 AM · Feb 16, 2022
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/02/covid-pandemic-immunocompromised-risk-vaccines/622094/
No paywall
https://archive.fo/Y17ja
When the coronavirus pandemic began, Emily Landon thought about her own risk only in rare quiet moments. An infectious-disease doctor at the University of Chicago Medicine, she was cramming months of work into days, preparing her institution for the viruss arrival in the United States. But Landon had also recently developed rheumatoid arthritisa disease in which a persons immune system attacks their own jointsand was taking two drugs that, by suppressing said immune system, made her more vulnerable to pathogens. Normally, shed be confident about avoiding infections, even in a hospital setting. This felt different. We didnt have enough tests, it was probably around us everywhere, and Im walking around every day with insufficient antibodies and hamstrung T-cells, she told me. And she knew exactly what was happening to people who got infected. One night, she found that in the fog of an earlier day, she had written on her to-do list: Make a will. And I realized, Oh my God, I could die, she said. I just cried and cried.
Two years later, COVID-19 is still all around us, everywhere, and millions of people like Landon are walking around with a compromised immune system. A significant proportion of them dont respond to COVID vaccines, so despite being vaccinated, many are still unsure whether theyre actually protectedand some know that they arent. Much of the United States dropped COVID restrictions long ago; many more cities and states are now following. That means policies that protected Landon and other immunocompromised people, including mask mandates and vaccination requirements, are disappearing, while accommodations that benefited them, such as flexible working options, are being rolled back.
This isnt a small group. Close to 3 percent of U.S. adults take immunosuppressive drugs, either to treat cancers or autoimmune disorders or to stop their body from rejecting transplanted organs or stem cells. That makes at least 7 million immunocompromised peoplea number thats already larger than the populations of 36 states, without even including the millions more who have diseases that also hamper immunity, such as AIDS and at least 450 genetic disorders.
In the past, immunocompromised people lived with their higher risk of infection, but COVID represents a new threat that, for many, has further jeopardized their ability to be part of the world. From the very start of the pandemic, some commentators have floated the idea that we can protect the vulnerable and everyone else can go on with their lives, Seth Trueger, who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, told me. Hows that supposed to work? He is an emergency doctor at Northwestern Medicine; he can neither work from home nor protect himself by avoiding public spaces. How am I supposed to provide for my family or live my life if theres a pandemic raging? he said. Contrary to popular misconceptions, most immunocompromised people are neither visibly sick nor secluded. I know very few people who are immunocompromised and get to live in a bubble, says Maggie Levantovskaya, a writer and literature professor who has lupus, an autoimmune disorder that can cause debilitating inflammation across the entire body.
*snip*
Nevilledog
(50,676 posts)PufPuf23
(8,688 posts)Skittles
(152,964 posts)selfish assholes will not
crickets
(25,896 posts)the immunocompromised have my utmost sympathy for what they're going through. I'm still masking in public, not just because I want to protect myself, but because it's the kind thing to do for others around me. I choose my risk comfort level, but there are populations among us who cannot do that without risking almost certain death. The startling but ominously on point discussion about "natural eugenics" should give anyone pause for thought about the toll that uneven and erratic public efforts have taken on everyone, especially those who have little recourse.
Excellent, eye-opening article, Nevilledog.
Meowmee
(5,164 posts)To protect ourselves and others. We are higher risk with various chronic health issues. I have a few autoimmune, it should be done regardless for the greater good of everyone. Whether they are intelligent enough to see that or not. W basically said on tv 2-3 months ago that most people dying now have comorbidities and are going to die anyway, so who cares. She and many others need to go.
orleans
(33,987 posts)Meowmee
(5,164 posts)electric_blue68
(14,600 posts)My only problem per se is being overweight. And being stuck in much of the time my lack of walking outside doesn't help.
Otoh hand I've had a bunch of days in the past few months only eat one (pretty big) meal a day out of the covid blues plus winter S.A.D. (not $ issues) so I knew I haven't gain much weight at all bc my pre-covid clothes still fit. 👍
Anyway what an awful scary thing to be faced with!
Meowmee
(5,164 posts)She is terrible sorry you are going through this too. That is good your weight stayed the same. I have lost 15-20 lbs during the ordeal.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)Deep State Witch
(10,350 posts)Or, at least that's what he was diagnosed with. It's more like the damage seen to the lungs of firefighters at Ground Zero. We had a brush fire near our home, which burned a lot of poison ivy and scarred his lungs. When COVID first came out, he realized that he'd most likely be dead if he caught it. So, yeah, neither of us are unmasking any time soon. If someone gives either of us shit about it, I'm just going to tell them, "fuck you, I'm high-risk."
Response to Nevilledog (Original post)
Volaris This message was self-deleted by its author.
Dorian Gray
(13,469 posts)Not sure who you're talking to. (the tweet that shared the article is Matt Gertz, not Matt Gaetz, and I hardly think he's a MAGAt.)
Volaris
(10,260 posts)Horse with no Name
(33,956 posts)The selfishness of many Americans has basically relegated a large number of our fellow citizens a lifetime to be spent at home.
My mom had cancer and during the last year of her life, she was unable to enjoy the few things that she loved to dogo out to eat, visit with her family and friends or go shopping.
The remainder of her life consisted of nothing but doctors appointments and staying home.
I have autoimmune disease and I can count the number of times on one hand that I have been somewhere to shop (other than groceries).
This is the new way of life for many of us and there is a large portion of Americans who dont give a shit.