Not the videogame. I wish. Covid 19 infections increased 55% over the last week. I did something today that I hadn’t done in 6 months. I wrote an order for an infusion of monoclonal antibodies for a patient with Covid19 to receive. I hope this is not a trend. These infusions can reduce the odds of a patient with mild to moderate symptoms of having to be admitted. They are recommended to be given within 7 days of the onset of symptoms. I saw my dermatologist this morning. He said he is thinking of requiring new patients to be immunized. “Why should I put myself needlessly at risk? he said.
I did something else today that I hadn’t done in over 6 months. I went to the ICU at a local hospital to look in on a patient with Covid 19. I was told by the ICU nurse that there were 18 patients waiting in the ER for an ICU bed. This patient had been vaccinated, but was older with several chronic diseases. I spoke with a hospitalist at another hospital who had four patients on his panel of inpatients with Covid 19 in the hospital, none of whom had been vaccinated and all regretted it.
Doom and gloom? Not really. Just disappointing that we missed the opportunity for a more sustained hiatus by not getting more people immunized. Since this variant is more infectious and wide spread, resuming social distancing and indoor masking makes sense.
Here is a local update from The San Antonio Report:
The Governor says, “Now is the time for social responsibility.” So be socially responsible. Wear a mask indoors and get vaccinated.
One picture says it all:
