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Mass Vaccination In A Broken Public Health System

by RDavis | Health

This country has underfunded public health for decades. We are seeing the results of that malpractice as we try to test and vaccinate a significant number of our population during the COVID 19 pandemic.

It would be simplistic to blame the departed presidential criminal and his team for their lack of action during the pandemic. Yet, they do deserve a good share of blame for not creating a national plan to deal with COVID.

In order to understand why the Biden administration will not find a way to test and vaccinate a critical mass of Americans within a short time frame it is important to know that this country barely has a functioning public health system.

Eliminate The 1-10 Pain Scale

by RDavis | Health

Anyone experiencing pain who has had contact with the health care system has had one of the most meaningless and offensive questions posed to them. “On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst pain you have ever had, what is your pain now?” Nurses are often the ones asking the question. Asking that question makes life simple for nurses, but it is not fair to patients to ask them to characterize their pain that way.

In the 1990’s health care professionals started to pay more attention to pain. I was working as a nurse then and accepted the 1-10 scale as gospel, as did most nurses. But I was never entirely comfortable with this rating system and I always tried to ask more questions of people experiencing pain.

Brattleboro 75 and Up – Get Your Vaccinations

by cgrotke | Health

Vermont’s vaccination enrollment program is open for people 75 and older. It is a statewide, centralized registry system. No need to call your hospital or doctor’s office. 

They would prefer you to register online, but there is a phone number: 855-722-7878

Hours for the phone center are: Monday-Friday, 8:15 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

A few things to know:

The Vaccine Rollout – Too Many Unknowns

by RDavis | Health

World governments are trying to deal with the complexity of vaccinating enough of their populations to provide an adequate level of herd immunity to be able to declare that the COVID 19 pandemic is under control. Having a Darwinian health care system and a lack of federal leadership means the U.S. will most likely lag behind the rest of the world in vaccine rollout. Experts are guessing that anywhere from 70-90 percent of people need to be vaccinated to meet herd immunity efficacy .

One of the major problems that all countries face is the fact that no one really knows how the pandemic will play out, even under the best of vaccine rollout scenarios. In addition, there are many unknowns about how vaccines work and how the virus behaves.

12 Local Organizations Collaborate on Wellness Care Packages for the Community

by HBLozito | Health

Brattleboro, VT — United Way of Windham County has released funds in the amount of $90,322, via a Vermont Department of Health Grant, to 11 area organizations in support of the Collaborative Care Package Project. The participating organizations are: The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont, The Brattleboro Community Justice Center, Brooks Memorial Library, Community Asylum Seekers Project, Deerfield Valley Community Partnership, Elnu Abenaki, Greater Falls Connections, Out in the Open, The Root Social Justice Center, The Susu Healing Collective, United Way of Windham County, and West River Valley Thrives.

HB Lozito, Executive Director of Out in the Open says of the project: “we want to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, both those that are direct and indirect, on our most impacted community members—those who are rural, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQ+ by offering care packages that are supportive of people’s whole selves and families. Our goal is to source as many of these items from locally-owned, BIPOC-owned, LGBTQ+-owned businesses as possible. We are happy to live in an area so abundant with local producers!”

COVID Forever?

by RDavis | Health

Some people are delusional enough to think that humans will eradicate the COVID 19 virus. That is not likely. Consider the fact that the only infectious disease affecting humans ever to be eradicated was smallpox. That disease was declared eliminated on December 9, 1979.

Since then we have been exposed to a number of new and old diseases such as HIV, Ebola as well as the seasonal flu that we have learned how to control but not eliminate. It is estimated that about 35,000 Americans died from the flu during the 2018-19 flu season. That is an average number of deaths according to statistics from the past ten years.

Brattleboro and Vermont COVID-19 Dashboard Summary – December 2020

by cgrotke | Health

T’is the month of December. Here is the continuation of daily COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro. Scroll down the new comments for the latest.

You can find the November numbers here,  October stats here,  September numbers here, August numbers here,  July numbers here, the June numbers here, the May dashboard reporting here, and the April numbers here.

Will a COVID Vaccine Be Safe and Effective?

by RDavis | Health

It is difficult for the average person to understand what they need to know about a COVID vaccine before they decide to be inoculated. The vaccine will be available within weeks or months and public health officials are urging people to get vaccinated.

Government health officials are saying that the vaccines developed have proven to be safe and effective and that the best chance we all have for moving on and living in a world not controlled by the behavior of a virus is to continue to use masks, social distance and to take the vaccine when it becomes available.

According to Francis Collins MD, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it will take 80% coverage (vaccine administration) to get to herd immunity, and that is not likely to happen until the summer of 2021if all goes well.

Medicare Disadvantage

by RDavis | Health

Every year during Medicare’s open enrollment period, which is from October 15 to December 7 this year, millions of Medicare beneficiaries are bombarded by private insurance companies looking for their business. The advertising makes it sound like these benevolent companies are looking to offer you a pot of gold for free. If it sounds too good to be true then it is too good to be true.

Here’s the story. In 1997 congress authorized the creation of Medicare C which has come to be known as Medicare Advantage. It was an effort by Republicans to privatize Medicare and make it less of a government-run program. It was also a gift for the private insurance industry which continues to haul in huge profits when people switch from traditional Medicare A to Medicare C.

Town of Brattleboro Update: COVID-19 at American Legion Not A Risk To Voters

by Not Signed In | Health

Town Clerk Hilary Francis learned that a person who visited the Legion last week has tested positive for COVID-19. Francis advised Town Manager Peter Elwell immediately of this information and also that someone who was at the Legion yesterday had briefly interacted with the visitor last week. Town Manager Elwell reviewed this matter with officials at the Vermont Department of Health. The department informed him that because of the circumstances of the person’s potential exposure, no one who was at the Legion yesterday was at risk, or are being considered a “close contact.” Also, the Legion was deep cleaned last weekend (as it is every weekend) and best practices to prevent the spread of germs were in place throughout yesterday’s voting at that site. 

Brattleboro and Vermont COVID-19 Dashboard Numbers – November 2020

by cgrotke | Health

We’re in November. Here is the continuation of daily COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro.

You can find the October stats here,  September numbers here, August numbers here,  July numbers here, the June numbers here, the May dashboard reporting here, and the April numbers here.

Brattleboro and Vermont COVID-19 Dashboard Numbers – October 2020

by cgrotke | Health

It’s October now. Here is the continuation of daily COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro.

You can find the September numbers here, August numbers here,  July numbers here, the June numbers here, the May dashboard reporting here, and the April numbers here.

The End of Restaurants as We Know Them?

by RDavis | Health

Sadly, one of the sectors of the economy taking a major hit during the pandemic is the restaurant industry. Many places have gone out of business and those that remain are struggling to figuring out a way to create a new kind of business model that promotes financial viability.

When restaurants ramp down and close there are all kinds of ripple effects in the economy. People lose jobs and supporting industries, which include farmers, also feel the pinch. If one looked at the pandemic solely from an economic viewpoint that would mean that opening all public businesses would be the highest priority.

Brattleboro and Vermont COVID-19 Dashboard Numbers – September 2020

by cgrotke | Health

Welcome to September. Here is the continuation of daily COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro.

You can find the August numbers here,  July numbers here, the June numbers here, the May dashboard reporting here, and the April numbers here.

Bupkis

by RDavis | Health

The literal meaning of the Yiddish word bupkis is nothing. But as is the case with many Yiddish words, bupkis can add richness and nuance to the description of situations. For example: I got bupkis for presents from my friends on my 70th birthday. Bupkis implies disappointment and some degree of anger, as well as an expectation of a specific kind of behavior from friends.

As the current pandemic unfolded in this country it became clear that the American health care non-system is not meeting the needs of a large segment of the population. It was not exactly a revelation, but it should have been a wakeup call.

Politicians offered their usual meaningless rhetoric and there was no legislation put forward to address the sickness of the health care system. In fact, the pandemic legislation that passed became a financial windfall for obscenely rich Americans while the rest of us were thrown a few crumbs: political bupkis.

The Great Vaccine Hype

by RDavis | Health

Listening to news reports one might think that the only way that we can move from pandemic mode to some degree of post-pandemic normalcy is to have a vaccine to rid us of COVID 19. Any vaccine that is developed will not magically make COVID 19 go away. It might help a little, but a magic bullet cure is unlikely.

The sound bite, short-attention span world is not suited to explaining complex issues such as how vaccines are developed and how they work. Instead, the world sees hope when a lab developing a vaccine sends out premature press releases of success so their stock value can increase.

There are well established scientific protocols in place for vaccine development and they all require years of trials and research. Sometimes vaccine development efforts are successful and sometimes they are not. When a vaccine is developed and made available to the public it takes years for us to see the big picture of how the vaccine works.

COVID 19 Update

by RDavis | Health

It is clear that the United States is doing a deadly poor job of controlling the pandemic. There are too many people who think that having a beer and mingling in crowds is more important than saving lives. And there are too many people in power who have turned the pandemic into a political battle.

As of July 20, 3,834,208 Americans have been infected with COVID 19 and 142,601 have died. The U.S. has had 24% of the 606,173 deaths worldwide.

Most other countries have slowed disease spread because they have had organized government efforts to provide citizens with the tools to stay safe. There is no national effort in this country and that means the numbers will continue to rise and more people will die, despite the best efforts of individual states.