My son and his family went to the Capitol Mall yesterday and sent us photos that are shocking and so very, very sad. Many of the flags have sad messages on them.
Each flag represents a loved one who died of COVID. I understand the number of deaths is probably more but just hasn't been reported to the CDC from some states because of underfunding, understaffing, etc.
This was reported on the Washington Post on September 15 about a couple of weeks ago and the number has only gone up.
"The result: As the nation’s covid death toll exceeded 663,000 this week, it meant roughly 1 in every 500 Americans had succumbed to the disease caused by the coronavirus."
I also saw this on the BBC website:
We grieved as a nation when 2,977 people died on September 11, 2001.
Right now... 700,975 people have died of COVID and the number continues to climb.
My daughter, Tiffany told me recently that a friend of hers feels COVID is no different from the flu and refused to get the COVID vaccine. However, when her daughter's friend's parents said she could only invite those who were vaccinated to a sleepover she was having, Tiffany's friend then felt compelled to have her child vaccinated so she could attend the party. (And Tiffany's friend got vaccinated at the same time although her husband still refuses it.)
I understand many people know others who had COVID and survived so they figure they'll be all right too. I don't know what it will take to get people to be vaccinated in order to help the entire country instead of thinking only about themselves.
I don't know and I suppose seeing those sad flags won't move them either.
It continues to flummox me how a health event got turned into something political.
ReplyDeleteI was talking to my daughter, who is an RN at the largest hospital in St. Louis, about what Covid patients who are in serious condition go through in the hospital. They are positioned on their stomach so that the lungs can work easier, they have a breathing tube, tube for feeding, a tube for each bathroom need,tubes for medication in their arms. They can't move around or speak. I cannot believe that people will not get vaccinated in an effort to try and avoid the possibility of this happening to them. It seems even more impossible to believe that people refuse to wear masks that offer some protection, not as much as the vaccination, but some.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to sound like a rough, possibly inappropriate idea, but I think that instead of constantly showing video of people getting their vaccinations, it would get the people who think that Covid is like a flu to change their thinking if actual videos of people being treated for severe Covid could be shown. It would would be a real wake up call. I am not talking about a video shown where it shows a very draped person in a hospital bed. I believe advertising (later evening, not for kids to view) with facial features blurred but showing (blurred images) with voice over descriptions of all of the various tubes and positioning that must be done to try and save some Covid patients' lives. No one can know ahead of time if they will have asymptomatic Covid or a light case of Covid or if they will be one of the people who end up in the hospital having very intense treatment to possibly save their lives. Some people need to be shown just how intense the life saving treatment can be for this very serious illness.
It really makes me angry that they keep on showing close-ups of needles going into arms on the news over and over and over again. There are people who are needle adverse. They don’t need to see this. I was just talking to someone while waiting for my flu shot whose grown-up daughter was so afraid of the needle that she has to have her mom with her.
DeleteThere's a chance of diminishing the needle fear if you tell the nurse. There are 2-3 gadgets and methods to minimize the feel of the stick. Linda in Kansas
DeleteThose pictures are heartbreaking. I have now recovered from my booster shot and am glad to be vaccinated. Thank you for the reminder of the toll our nation is enduring because of those who won't get the jab.
ReplyDeleteVery sad.
ReplyDeleteIt's all very sad how many people get their information from incorrect sources. Very few people really listen to correct national news, and rarely look up CDC or Medscape.com for correct information. Even with facts, we will not be able to change the anti-vaxxers minds. (Great example, though, of getting vaxxed so they won't miss a party...) Even when children die, the parents will still deny the need for vaccines. Yes, I agree with Susie that more explicit views of death in the ICU should be shown. Most people don't see the inside of an ICU. It's not living. When people are dying of covid in the ICU deny with their last breath that "it can't be covid, it must be the flu," we don't stand a chance to correct that thinking. The nursing shortage is real from the insults and burnout. I don't have enough nurses on my current home health team because there are no nurses wanting to work anymore.
ReplyDeleteIt's unbelievable. Linda in Kansas
Gee… Linda. I had no idea there was something that helps alleviate the prick. Not that it matters, I guess. I prick my finger each morning for a glucose check. I got my high dose flu shot today. I was surprised CVS advised us to drink 16 ozs of water 1 hour before going for the shot. I’d never heard that before. I did. Felt the same as always, a little achey.
DeleteSome devices don't eliminate the prick, just minimize the sensation of it. Some pediatricians put ice on the spot first. Haven't heard about drinking water before the shots. Wouldn't hurt though. Linda in Kansas
DeleteI will never understand the resistance. I have a family member refusing the shot. When I told my sister that my brother would not be visiting her this year since she was not vaccinated, she finally said "Ok, I'll get the shot but we really don't need it now that they have a pill." That pill is now an excuse to avoid prevention and spread. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteShocking, sad & necessary. We need more visuals like this, seen daily--I'm becoming more & more numb to the numbers alone. My God, all those flags... and each one of those flags has greatly affected others lives as well. :^(
ReplyDeleteThat installation of flags is quite gripping. More people have died than the population of Vermont. In answer to AC Covid got politicized by our former president who continues to do so along with his sycophants.
ReplyDeleteI will never understand why people refuse the COVID vaccine. However, I do believe it is their choice. Why they make that choice is definitely a mystery. They not only choose for themselves, they choose to hurt others.
ReplyDeleteThey can't see that their actions do hurt every one else too. Did I tell you that we have had our booster?
ReplyDeleteSeeing all those flags, just makes it more shocking. A very sad situation for sure.
ReplyDeleteI thought at first that facts and reality would turn things around but the deniers are entrenched in their fantasy world. I wouldn't care except that it affects the rest of of us. My brother is vaxxed (had to because of his job) but my SIL isn't, so I already dread the holidays and the decisions that I'll have to make.
ReplyDeleteThere are many horror stories of people who've had covid and how serious it can be. People shouldn't gamble with this beast. It is extremely vicious.
ReplyDeleteI read an article in our newspaper about this flag installation and some of the messages printed on the flags. It is sad indeed, but also maddening to think that deniers still persist in contracting and spreading this virus and the diseased thinking that goes with it.
ReplyDeleteEven though our numbers seem bad, the death toll in Hawaii is 1/1000th of the US total. It is very surprising that our Covid cases are higher than India, where we heard the death toll was raging. And I would be curious to know about China's numbers.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad, today is my cousin who is 81 and was healthy but didn't get vaccinated and died of covid.
ReplyDeleteThis is truly tragic when so many of these deaths could have been presented.
ReplyDeleteThe vaccination deniers aren't worth knowing.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that people don't believe in the vaccine. We are getting more people done, as employers are tightening up rules. That's what it'll take. The far right deal in conspiracy theories, and figure the powers-that-be are doing the same. Crikey.
ReplyDeleteThe utter stupidity and ignorance of anti vaxxers dismays me. It doesn't surprise me, just dismays me.
ReplyDelete