Unvaccinated endangering millions needing non-COVID-related medical procedures
Memo to the 60-plus million unvaccinated Americans who are so fond of saying they're making a "personal choice." Your "personal choice" is not only selfish and misguided --- unless you have a legitimate medical exemption --- but it's endangering millions of lives, and not just from COVID-19.
And that's not only because your choice is helping to spread the coronavirus, nor is it because by not getting vaccinated, you're very likely going to come down with far more serious bouts of COVID-19 than those who are vaccinated and boosted.
No, with the vast majority of people who are hospitalized with COVID remaining unvaccinated, that "personal choice" is not only playing a major role in pushing hospitals to the brink, but it's also endangering the lives of thousands of patients who need serious, but not necessarily life-threatening, surgeries.
As the Boston Globe reported last week, many hospitals, in the midst of this COVID surge, are making judgments on even such serious operations as cancerous tumors, with the result that putting off surgeries could mean that the patients will end up with a more critical form of the disease --- and that's just plain wrong.
This is what the Globe reported in a Jan. 14 story:
The state's largest health care system, Mass General Brigham, as of Jan. 17, was planning to reduce by the thousands the number of surgeries that it performs, and as of Jan.13, UMass Memorial Medical Center suspended all procedures and surgeries not considered life-threatening.
In addition, the Globe reported, many hospital administrators are limiting all but the most urgent surgeries, even some cancer surgeries, forcing doctors to operate only on those tumors that are growing too fast to avoid surgeries.
That outcome is not only downright scary, but it doesn't have to be. If even a third of the dubiously proud unvaccinated were in fact vaccinated, the situation wouldn't be nearly so dire.
So if you think that your choice not to become vaccinated against coronavirus is your personal choice and doesn't affect the rest of us, think again, because you're not only prolonging this pandemic, but you're endangering millions of lives.
Getting vaccinated has long since ceased to be a "personal choice" any more than getting a license to drive is a choice. If the unvaccinated remain stubborn, then it's time for two things to happen:
1. Hospitals should put the unvaccinated at the end of the line instead of sacrificing the health of the vaccinated.
2. Insurance companies should stop covering the unvaccinated for COVID-related hospital admissions unless they have a legitimate exemption --- and "I DON'T WANT TO" is not a legitimate reason for refusing to get vaccinated.
I don't expect that to happen, because medical people have two qualities that the unvaccinated so obviously lack: compassion and empathy for others.
But that's why we should all say a prayer for medical workers of all types: They have seen far too many hospitalization regrets from COVID patients who when seriously ill with the disease in the hospital, wish they had been vaccinated.
Don't let that happen to you; get vaccinated today.
Getting vaccinated isn't a political decision; it's the only smart decision --- and the only way to bring this pandemic under control.
And that's not only because your choice is helping to spread the coronavirus, nor is it because by not getting vaccinated, you're very likely going to come down with far more serious bouts of COVID-19 than those who are vaccinated and boosted.
No, with the vast majority of people who are hospitalized with COVID remaining unvaccinated, that "personal choice" is not only playing a major role in pushing hospitals to the brink, but it's also endangering the lives of thousands of patients who need serious, but not necessarily life-threatening, surgeries.
As the Boston Globe reported last week, many hospitals, in the midst of this COVID surge, are making judgments on even such serious operations as cancerous tumors, with the result that putting off surgeries could mean that the patients will end up with a more critical form of the disease --- and that's just plain wrong.
This is what the Globe reported in a Jan. 14 story:
The state's largest health care system, Mass General Brigham, as of Jan. 17, was planning to reduce by the thousands the number of surgeries that it performs, and as of Jan.13, UMass Memorial Medical Center suspended all procedures and surgeries not considered life-threatening.
In addition, the Globe reported, many hospital administrators are limiting all but the most urgent surgeries, even some cancer surgeries, forcing doctors to operate only on those tumors that are growing too fast to avoid surgeries.
That outcome is not only downright scary, but it doesn't have to be. If even a third of the dubiously proud unvaccinated were in fact vaccinated, the situation wouldn't be nearly so dire.
So if you think that your choice not to become vaccinated against coronavirus is your personal choice and doesn't affect the rest of us, think again, because you're not only prolonging this pandemic, but you're endangering millions of lives.
Getting vaccinated has long since ceased to be a "personal choice" any more than getting a license to drive is a choice. If the unvaccinated remain stubborn, then it's time for two things to happen:
1. Hospitals should put the unvaccinated at the end of the line instead of sacrificing the health of the vaccinated.
2. Insurance companies should stop covering the unvaccinated for COVID-related hospital admissions unless they have a legitimate exemption --- and "I DON'T WANT TO" is not a legitimate reason for refusing to get vaccinated.
I don't expect that to happen, because medical people have two qualities that the unvaccinated so obviously lack: compassion and empathy for others.
But that's why we should all say a prayer for medical workers of all types: They have seen far too many hospitalization regrets from COVID patients who when seriously ill with the disease in the hospital, wish they had been vaccinated.
Don't let that happen to you; get vaccinated today.
Getting vaccinated isn't a political decision; it's the only smart decision --- and the only way to bring this pandemic under control.
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