#coronovarius

Listen, I know it’s a B*zzfeed article, but if you listen closely you’ll hear the neglected screams of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis community and all the researchers who fought for decades to get funding for this sort of thing, but because the illness got re-branded as “chronic fatigue syndrome” and WRONGLY classified as a purely psychological disorder, and not a complete autonomic nervous system collapse following a major event (trauma, prior viral illness etc), we’re both woefully behind and wholly unprepared for the mass disability event that is about to follow Covid-19 if steps aren’t taken Immediately to correct the guidelines being handed out by doctors to “long haul” Covid-19 patients when it comes to self care and long term recovery.

Jennifer Brea over on Twitter has been talking extensively about her experiences with having ME/CFS and then contracting Coronavirus on top of that (source). She also regularly boosts the experiences of others, and is one of the most forefront advocates for ME/CFS to be taken seriously by medical professionals worldwide, and her documentary www.unrest.film/ has been paramount to raising awareness to the neglect and medical abuse many people with chronic conditions face. 

If you’re a “long haul” Covid-19 sufferer and you’re finding my blog because of the various chronic fatigue things I’ve posted over the years, I’m so sorry. We think I got it back in March/April, and while we also think my MCAS meds might have helped me recover better, it’s been a rough few months, even by my standards. But please know you are not alone. Reach out to the ME/CFS communities online. You’ll find support and resources that may help you affirm that you’re not alone or crazy and that yes, some of the things your doctors are recommending you to do, like “kick starting your recovery with exercise” is in fact making you worse. Many, many, many people with ME/CFS suffer from severe and debilitating exercise intolerance, especially if their ME/CFS comes with a side helping of POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). My exercise intolerance is made doubly worse by suffering from a mast cell dysfunction (MCAS), which means if I exercise too hard or too much, I can trigger an episode of anaphylaxis and go into shock. Sounds bonkers I know, but as anyone with a chronic condition can tell you, the body is capable of wild and often terrifying things that as many, many people are now finding out, most doctors are either ill equipped to deal with or even believe in.

and then turn around and rail against the vaccines, which are:

a) freely available in the US

b) vetted rigorously in large clinical trials before being released, with peer-reviewed, published results in reliable medical journals like the NEJM that are openly available to the public (1, 2, 3 for mRNA vaccines and J&J, respectively)

c) proven to be overwhelmingly safe and effective by significantly more data in the field, now that we've started administering them, with sample sizes on the order of 3 million for the mRNA vaccines. of the 8 million doses for J&J, there were only 13,725 reports of negative effects, 97% of which were deemed to be non-serious

d) even if you don't believe the peer-reviewed numbers, just look at the covid infection numbers vs. the number of covid deaths for LA county, CA, which has a relatively high vaccination rate of 72.7% (dated Aug 21):

Deaths have increased a little bit, due to the increased number of cases, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was last summer, even though the infection counts are actually a little worse right now.

Side note: If vaccines work, as they've been shown to in clinical trials, why are case counts so high? From what I can tell, there are a few possible reasons. First, no vaccine is 100% effective (the MMR vaccine is only about 88% effective), so some breakthrough cases are expected; the goal is to get enough of the population vaccinated that we reach herd immunity, which hasn't happened yet. It's also highly likely that the delta variant, which has a higher breakthrough rate, is also affecting these numbers. Additionally, we have far less restrictions in place, both socially and legally, which contributes to community spread. Concerts, fairs, and other large gatherings are happening; people are back at work again; children are returning to school soon, often without mask mandates. Folks who don't see the virus itself as a concern no longer have to deal with mask mandates or restrictions on indoor gatherings; at many restaurants and businesses, unvaccinated folks can easily just lie about their vaccination status. Vaccinated people aren't off the hook, either- they may be lulled into a false sense of security and attend large unmasked social gatherings or engage in other risky activities before herd immunity is reached.

A federal judge on Sunday ruled that Alabama cannot ban abortions as part of the state’s response to coronavirus.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a preliminary injunction sought by clinics to prevent the state from forbidding abortions as part of a ban on elective medical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thompson said abortion providers can decide whether a procedure can wait.