So. Much. COVID.
We are one of the smallest hospitals in the KC metro so we originally weren’t admitting COVID patients but instead shipping them out to larger, better resourced and staffed hospitals in the area, but that has changed as of last week. Now we are not only receiving COVID patients from this county (which still has not broken even 35% fully vaccinated, by the way) but also from the southwest part of the state, as are all of the metro hospitals. Many patients—whether they are here for COVID or for non-COVID emergencies—are routinely waiting over a day to be admitted because of lack of space. It is also now taking much, much longer to not only do transfers, regardless of acuity or need, but also just to FIND someone to take them because all of our hospitals are in this same boat. There are no beds.
Meanwhile, my mother lambasts me with conspiracy theories about how the vaccines were developed as a form of population control and she is terrified I’m going to die within two years or something because I received the two doses of Moderna back in January-February. Oh, and the vaccines also contain microchips and make you magnetic because of course they do. I’ve tried to reason with her, but she (and my stepfather) refuse to hear any of it. Both of them live in a rural part of the state with rising case and hospitalization numbers, and both are older with multiple preexisting conditions. Both also refuse to at least wear masks and instead live life as if we aren’t on the brink of a health crisis. I’m scared for them. And the sad part is that this is really, really common here. No one seems to care as our health system is falling apart and we continue to make national and global news. I believe the Delta variant accounts for 85%+ of cases here.
I continue to advocate for the vaccines. I have made appointments for other people and have even provided rides to clinics. I am trying to help in any way I can, because this ultimately impacts everyone and it is in our common best interest for everyone who can be immunized to do so, especially for younger children who are currently entirely reliant on us as the herd for protection. At the very least, if people absolutely refuse, they should be masking up and distance themselves from others but nobody is doing that now, either.
It feels pointless. It feels hopeless. I’m terrified that this state is very rapidly running out of time (if it hasn’t already) to turn this around. Short of federal intervention (which has been offered, but our POS governor apparently responded to with a hearty “Eff off, people will not take kindly to that here”), I fear that this will continue unabated and that a massive wave of severe illness and death is on the horizon.
Apologies for the length; I have extremely strong feelings about our current situation and needed to vent somewhere. I wish I could be like my neighbors and just not care.
Even worse, I had sent Ducky's passport to Germany to get it updated, so now I'm going to have to figure out how to contact them to update my CC info, which I'm sure is going to be a pain in the butt 
