The ‘Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated’ Is Due To Trump Death Cult Sabotage Of Vaccination Efforts (Updated)

by

Here we go again. Another holiday season with a massive Covid-19 surge, despite vaccines being available for the better part of a year.

This is a “Pandemic of The Unvaccinated,” due to the sabotage of vaccination efforts by Trump Death Cult anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers, and their criminally negligent political leaders, like Governor Doug Ducey, who has overtopped the capacity our hospitals with unvaccinated Covid patients, and caused thousands of needless deaths. This is mass murder by a political cult. ‘A defining tragedy’: US COVID death toll eclipses 800,000 as winter surge intensifies:

Advertisement

On Tuesday, the United States reached yet another staggering milestone, with 800,000 Americans now confirmed lost to the coronavirus, according to newly updated data from Johns Hopkins University.

“This will be a defining tragedy of our generation,” David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News. “We’ve gotten to the point where our eyes glaze over on these numbers. But by now, almost every one of us knows someone who has died of COVID-19.”

The sobering marker comes less than two years into the pandemic, and despite the introduction of the first coronavirus vaccines, nearly one year ago.

Howard Fisher reports, Hospital network over capacity:

The state’s largest hospital network is operating over capacity at several of its facilities and is turning away surgery that is not medically necessary.

And Dr. Marjorie Bessel, the chief medical officer for Banner Health, said Tuesday she expects things to only get worse in the next month. That, in turn, will result in even more instances of people with non life-threatening conditions having their surgeries delayed.

Bessel said that, for the moment, Banner is not anticipating having to do what has occurred in some other states where the National Guard has been called out to help set up facilities outside of hospitals. She also said the hospital is not yet using a “triage” system to turn away patients whose illnesses or injuries are not considered severe enough, or where their chances of survival are so low as to not merit care. [It’s coming soon.]

But it does not look good.

“Inpatient volumes are at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic, with several Banner hospitals operating above capacity,” Bessel said.

And that’s just now.

“If the forecasted trends continue we will soon be unable to meet the health care needs of Arizonans,” she said.

“Banner’s predictive modeling tools show no sign of letting up,” Bessel continued. “We expect volumes will continue to increase throughout December and into the beginning of next year before peaking around the middle of January.”

And even that, she said, does not account for the emergence of the Omicron variant which now is present in Arizona. Bessel said while it appears to be highly transmissible there is still a lot to learn about how severe it is and whether those who contract it will need to be hospitalized or, more problematic for hospitals, put into already overburdened intensive-care units.

But Bessel, who repeatedly emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated and wearing masks to help deal with the problem, declined to call on Gov. Doug Ducey to use his emergency powers to mandate either.

It would have fallen on deaf ears anyway from this Trump Death Cult governor:

Fearless Prediction: This reckless and irresponsible anti-vaccine mandate stance will be part of Governor Ducey’s State of The State address, and will be introduced as legislation when the state legislature reconvenes in January.  This will occur at the height of the holiday surge, as predicted by Banner’s modeling. This is shameless criminal negligence.

“I’m asking the community to assist us in preserving health care capacity for all of you,” she said. “I believe that each one of us can make a personal decision to do our part.”

The Trump Death Cult does not care. They want people to die, hence the “death cult.” Celine Gounder writes, “We know how America really feels about the 800,000 lives lost to COVID.” The Death Toll Says It All.

Bessel’s comments come as the state on Tuesday posted another 203 deaths from Covid, bringing the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 23,243. There also were another 2,168 cases.

It’s not just a question of having beds, both in the intensive-care units as well as standard care. Bessel said it’s having the staff to provide the necessary medical care.

“We are more stretched now than we have been since the start of the pandemic,” she said, saying many “core team members” deciding to retire, seek another position within the hospital that does not involve face-to-face health care — or get out of the profession entirely. All that, Bessel said, is due to “prior surges and the enormous physical and mental impact the pandemic has had on them.”

There is a significant difference, though, in what is causing the current overcrowding problem at hospitals.

In January, when more than 90% of intensive-care beds were occupied, Covid patients accounted for about two thirds of that. Now, those with COVID take up about 40% of all ICU beds.

But Bessel said the balance of patients are a direct result of the pandemic.

“We know that individuals throughout the pandemic have, very unfortunately, because of the scenario that we have been experiencing, (been) delaying care,” she said.

“Some of them delayed preventative care,” Bessel continued. “Some of them are presenting after
having symptoms over a protracted period of time and presenting late in the course of their disease or illness.”

The bottom line, she said, is that Banner has more patients now than it has had since the beginning of the pandemic.

An opinion by Jim Small published in  the Arizona Mirror in October is newly relevant. The death toll of political ambition will be Doug Ducey’s legacy:

More than anything, Doug Ducey wants his legacy to be the massive tax cuts that he has given wealthy Arizonans. It’s an issue he campaigned on in his first gubernatorial campaign, and in whatever the next phase of his political career brings, he will surely point to it as a victory.

But his true legacy will be the thousands of Arizonans who have died needlessly on his watch, as he repeatedly and stubbornly and maliciously mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has been on his watch that COVID-19 became the leading cause of death in Arizona, even as other similar states — where the governors implemented simple and common-sense measures to blunt the spread of the illness — managed to limit the death toll of the novel coronavirus.

It has been on his watch that the pandemic in Arizona has become more deadly than in New York. According to The New York Times’ invaluable data tracking, the Grand Canyon State has seen 288 people per 100,000 die from COVID-19, surpassing the 287 per 100,000 in the Empire State.

* * *

It would be bad enough if the governor was MIA, merely watching as things got worse while the Delta variant surged through Arizona, bringing a new spike in cases and deaths, filling hospitals along the way.

What we got instead was intentional sabotage. With the prospect of his prized tax cuts in danger of not passing, he sold out our public health in the name of capturing GOP votes. He barred mask mandates in our schools, said cities couldn’t require masks or vaccines, and decreed that businesses can ignore public health rules.

The Arizona Supreme Court struck it down. The Trump Death Cult will try again when the legislature reconvenes in January.

As bad press mounted, Ducey then did exactly what we knew he would: He denied doing the thing that he’d bragged about doing only weeks earlier.

It was a fitting declaration from a coward whose political ambition killed the people he swore an oath to protect. And that will be his legacy in Arizona.

UPDATE:





Advertisement

Discover more from Blog for Arizona

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

7 thoughts on “The ‘Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated’ Is Due To Trump Death Cult Sabotage Of Vaccination Efforts (Updated)”

  1. QAnon Queen and Covid-denier anti-vaxxer Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, asked our partisan hack Attorney General Mark Brnovich aka “Nunchucks” (or is it Numbnuts?) about a section of the state Health Code that gives state and county health officials various powers during a state of emergency. And one of them specifically allows those agencies to “require isolation or quarantine of any person.”

    What got Townsend’s attention is that county health departments were delegating the power to quarantine to individual school districts. And she said that has been happening with schools sending children home to quarantine if they believe the youngsters had been exposed to the COVID virus.

    [OMG, school districts are protecting the health of children in their charge from an outbreak of Covid? The monsters! How dare they be concerned about the health of children. Covid-denying anti-vaxxers want to keep their infected brats in school so they can cause a super-spreader outbreak of Covid and infect YOUR children. And they want YOU to pay for their recklessly irresponsible behavior.]

    Brnovich, in a new formal legal opinion, said there is a provision in the law that does allow for immediate quarantine or isolation without a court order when “any delay … would pose an immediate and serious threat to the public health.”

    Brnovich pointed out that anyone who is ordered isolated or quarantined can go to court to demand to be released from the restrictions. And Brnovich said the court must hold a hearing within 24 hours and issue a decision within 48 hours.

    There also are provisions in law for those ordered quarantined to seek a court order protesting the conditions imposed.

    Most significant, though, is that Brnovich said anyone who seeks judicial relief is entitled to have a lawyer appointed, with the state picking up the tab. And that legal representation “continues throughout the duration of the isolation or quarantine of the person.”

    “State could be billed for legal challenges to school quarantine rules”, https://tucson.com/news/local/state-could-be-billed-for-legal-challenges-to-school-quarantine-rules/article_e5b05358-6006-11ec-88fd-c3d811962925.html

  2. Paul Waldman writes, “The red covid wave is here”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/17/red-covid-wave-is-here/

    Given the realities of 21st century American politics, it would never have been possible for us to experience a pandemic that existed outside politics. But it’s hard to imagine how this one could have been more political. And it may be about to get worse.

    The omicron variant of covid-19 has begun to spread rapidly through the country, and we will see it everywhere. But this could be the red covid wave, inflicting the most damage on heavily Republican areas.

    [T]hough the delta variant began affecting liberal and conservative areas in equal measure, it quickly became more and more a red-area phenomenon. As health care analyst Charles Gaba documents, in September, the worst month for delta, the rate of covid deaths in the reddest 10 percent of counties (measured by presidential vote in 2020) was nearly seven times higher than the rate in the bluest 10 percent of counties.

    In the months since, that ratio has stayed shockingly high; so far in December, it is nearly 6 to 1.

    What will happen when omicron reaches every corner of America? First note that Democrats are far more likely to have been vaccinated. In a recent Monmouth University poll, 96 percent of Democrats said they had been vaccinated, compared to 54 percent of Republicans. And 30 percent of Republicans said they will likely never get vaccinated.

    Granting that we don’t yet know exactly how omicron will proceed, it will almost certainly find more purchase where fewer people are vaccinated and take few precautions. Which would mean that the red/blue disparity could intensify. Yet it’s unlikely people in those heavily red areas will suddenly say, “Gee, we really need to take this seriously.”

    Instead, we’ll see a continuation of what we’ve seen all along: governments and businesses in blue areas reacting to this outbreak with somewhat aggressive public health measures, while governments and businesses in red areas make a point of doing nothing.

    Even now, we’re averaging 1,275 covid deaths a day. If and when it rises to 2,000 or 3,000 — disproportionately from red states and counties — there will inevitably be more of the schadenfreude we’ve already seen on the left.

    Some of this is just the momentary nastiness all of us are prey to. But much of it comes from the feeling among liberals that while we’ve done everything possible to shorten this pandemic, conservatives have almost gleefully endeavored to extend it and ensure that as many people as possible get sick and die.

    We’re all angry and fed up. We all wish this was over. Rightly or wrongly, many liberals assign part of the blame for our continued misery to the right, both the cynical elites who discourage vaccination, and the rank and file who want nothing more than to “own the libs,” even if it means putting themselves and their families at risk.

    But what is there to gain from giving in to the impulse to shout that if their communities are laid low by omicron, they brought it on themselves?

    [We] can speak the truth about where we are without wishing death on our political opponents. We can fight for what we believe in without twisting into the ugliest version of ourselves.

    So the next time you hear a story about another anti-vax right-wing radio host or televangelist who died from covid, rather than chuckling, think of those they put at risk, the gullible or distracted people more likely to become infected because of them, and the ripples of loss spreading from them.

    That’s not to excuse the villains of this pandemic. They deserve our anger and condemnation. But after two years of misery and sorrow, a new wave of death and disease is nothing to feel satisfaction about, no matter whom it hits hardest.

  3. A surge in COVID-19 cases across the NFL and United States as a whole has resulted in the postponement of multiple Week 15 games. “NFL postpones three Week 15 games due to COVID-19 surge”, https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-covid-week-15-game-postponement

    The league announced Friday that Saturday’s game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Cleveland Browns has been moved to Monday, while Sunday’s meetings between the Washington Football Team and the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams have been moved to Tuesday.

    Raiders-Browns will air exclusively at 5 p.m. ET on NFL Network. Washington-Eagles and Seahawks-Rams will air at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.

    “We have made these schedule changes based on medical advice and after discussion with the NFLPA as we are seeing a new, highly transmissible form of the virus this week resulting in a substantial increase in cases across the league,” the NFL announced in a statement.

    “We continue to make decisions in consultation with medical experts to ensure the health and safety of the NFL community.”

    “The emergence of the Omicron variant is precisely the kind of change that warrants a flexible response,” Goodell wrote in a memo obtained by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.

    The NFL on Thursday announced updated protocols, which include fully vaccinated players being allowed to return from quarantine a day after testing positive provided they produce two negative tests within 24 hours and are also asymptomatic.

    The updated protocols also included changes to interaction between coaches, players and others in team facilities, prohibiting in-person meetings for Tier 1 and Tier 2 individuals (including coaches and players) unless they are held outdoors or in the team’s practice bubble with physical distancing included. Masking is also required indoors for all players and staff, including in the weight room, regardless of vaccination status. Restrictions on activity outside the facility have also increased, prohibiting Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 staff and players from public appearances or team- or player-organized charity events and gathering in groups of more than three individuals outside of the facility.

    The updated protocols came as a response to a change in the COVID-19 landscape and are intended to “address the increase in cases and the advent of the Omicron variant.” NFL Network’s Judy Battista reported Wednesday that roughly 100 players recently tested positive for COVID-19 over a three-day span. Thirty-two players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Friday alone. The continued increase in placement of players on the reserve/COVID-19 list reflects this spike in positive tests.

  4. “Nursing shortages compounding Southern Arizona health care crisis”, https://tucson.com/news/local/nursing-shortages-compounding-southern-arizona-health-care-crisis/article_9e742c4c-46f9-11ec-a674-ff0e14b9ea6b.html#tracking-source=home-trending

    There are roughly 600 nursing vacancies in Tucson right now and, as a direct result and coupled with the current COVID surge, the number of intensive care beds available keeps dipping: six were available in Pima County Friday compared to eight a week ago.

    “It’s the area with the most need right now,” said Kayla Depew, recruitment director for Banner Health. “There was a national shortage of nurses even before the pandemic.”

    The Arizona Department of Health Services has “recruited and paid for hundreds of nurses to help hospitals with staffing constraints,” said spokesman Steve Elliott. “This effort continues. As Dr. (Marjorie) Bessel from Banner Health said (this week), the best way for the public to help right now is to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and get their booster doses.”

  5. CNN reports, “A Covid-19 ‘viral blizzard’ is about to hit the US, expert says, with ‘millions’ to be infected soon”, https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/17/health/us-coronavirus-friday/index.html

    The Delta variant remains a problem. And Omicron, with its high transmissibility, could strike millions more soon, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

    “We’re really just about to experience a viral blizzard,” Osterholm told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday. “In the next three to eight weeks, we’re going to see millions of Americans are going to be infected with this virus, and that will be overlaid on top of Delta, and we’re not yet sure exactly how that’s going to work out.”

    Omicron will cause a serious strain on the health care system as more workers will likely get sick, Osterholm said, even though most cases from Omicron appear to be mild.

    “What you have here right now is a potential perfect storm,” Osterholm said. “I’ve been very concerned about the fact that we could easily see a quarter or a third of our health care workers quickly becoming cases themselves.”

  6. A House panel investigating the United States’ COVID-19 response issued a staff report saying that the Trump administration deliberately undermined the country’s pandemic response. “House Panel: Trump Administration Deliberately Undermined U.S. Covid-19 Response”, https://www.politicususa.com/2021/12/17/house-panel-trump-administration-deliberately-undermined-u-s-covid-19-response.html

    The panel found that in weakening testing guidance and interfering with public health recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), championing “herd immunity,” failure to respond to supply shortages, blocking public officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci from speaking openly, and prioritizing and promoting lies about the 2020 election over the pandemic response, the Trump administration ultimately damaged the country’s ability to effectively control the pandemic from the start.

    “Over the course of this year, the Select Subcommittee has continued and expanded on the critical work it began in 2020—rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal pandemic programs, promoting a robust and equitable coronavirus vaccination campaign, protecting American workers and their families, and exposing the historic failures of the prior Administration’s pandemic response that continue to hamper the nation’s ability to fully recover from this crisis,” said Chairman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) Clyburn.

    “As the nation continues progressing on a path toward ending this pandemic, the Select Subcommittee’s work remains essential to improving the ongoing response efforts and ensuring we are better prepared for future public health crises,” he added.

    The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis “sent more than 100 letters, reviewed more than 430,000 pages of documents, conducted ten transcribed interviews of key officials involved in the pandemic response, published seven staff reports detailing its findings, and held 14 hearings and public briefings with senior Administration officials, experts in public health and economics, Americans personally impacted by the pandemic, and other important witnesses,” according to its press release.

    You can read the full press release here. https://coronavirus.house.gov/news/press-releases/select-subcommittee-s-year-end-staff-report-highlights-oversight-work-releases

  7. Another consequence of the nihilist Trump Death Cult: “Weight of COVID pushing health care workforce to breaking point”, https://www.axios.com/weight-of-covid-pushing-health-care-workforce-to-breaking-point-892f4cf3-a46e-48d6-8d26-1d5d5b8f15bb.html

    New waves of COVID infections are crashing into a health care system whose workers are at a breaking point — if not already past it.

    Hospital workers have had little relief from COVID over the past two years. And that burned-out, dispirited workforce is again being overwhelmed by surges from Delta, while facing the specter of yet another wave from Omicron.

    “We’re facing a national emergency,” said Rick Pollack, CEO of the American Hospital Association.

    The sheer volume of work facing doctors and nurses is taxing enough, as is the length of time they’ve spent in crisis mode. But the problems go even deeper.

    Many have struggled with the emotional weight of seeing so many patients become severely ill or die, as well as demoralization from knowing many of those deaths could have been prevented with vaccination.

    As hospitals struggle to address overwork and fatigue, many have brought in travel nurses, who are sometimes paid two or three times more than staff nurses. That has led to hard feelings and high turnover.

    There’s also rising concern about the increased health risks workers are again facing with the Omicron variant.

    And with some emergency departments and inpatient units at or near capacity, patients are growing angry over the backlogs.

    “Patients are completely understandably frustrated and often angry. But that’s led to uncivil and, frankly, disrespectful behavior toward our staff, kind of like what’s being reported in airline passengers,” said Frank McGeorge, who is an emergency medicine doctor at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and also a reporter for WDIV-TV.

    [T]he most immediate fix for hospitals’ capacity issues would be to get everyone vaccinated and boosted, Pollack said. “The care in our hospitals is safe. But our ability to provide it is really threatened.”

Comments are closed.