Some updates on long Covid make for an indictment of US public health. Not that that should come as a surprise.

Opening Blurb:

Think you’ve grasped the full extent of COVID’s ongoing impact? Think again. As Americans shrug off vaccines and forget indoor air quality, the virus stealthily continues its destructive path. This was pretty much inevitable without new guidance urging a change in strategy and nobody telling us the full truth.

The danger is clear and present: COVID isn’t merely a respiratory illness; it’s a multi-dimensional threat impacting brain function, attacking almost all of the body’s organs, producing elevated risks of all kinds, and weakening our ability to fight off other diseases. Reinfections are thought to produce cumulative risks, and Long COVID is on the rise. Unfortunately, Long COVID is now being considered a long-term chronic illness — something many people will never fully recover from.

Dr. Phillip Alvelda, a former program manager in DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office that pioneered the synthetic biology industry and the development of mRNA vaccine technology, is the founder of Medio Labs, a COVID diagnostic testing company. He has stepped forward as a strong critic of government COVID management, accusing health agencies of inadequacy and even deception. Alvelda is pushing for accountability and immediate action to tackle Long COVID and fend off future pandemics with stronger public health strategies.

Contrary to public belief, he warns, COVID is not like the flu. New variants evolve much faster, making annual shots inadequate. He believes that if things continue as they are, with new COVID variants emerging and reinfections happening rapidly, the majority of Americans may eventually grapple with some form of Long COVID.

Let’s repeat that: At the current rate of infection, most Americans may get Long COVID.

In the following discussion with the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Alvelda discusses the wider social fallout from this ongoing health crisis, which could be avoided with the right mindset and action. He raises tough questions: Without robust surveillance and mitigation measures, how do we prevent future outbreaks from spiraling out of control? Is our pandemic readiness up to par for looming threats like bird flu? How do we cope with a population ravaged by the lasting impacts of Long COVID? The answers are a wake-up call.

  • Dessa [she/her]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
    46·
    20 days ago

    Biden’s most succesful policy for sure has to be convincing people that Covid is harmless. I’ve seen leftists repeating the propaganda because it’s just easier to believe the lie.

  • Ivysaur@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
    41·
    20 days ago

    I really try not to be a doomer about this but living through this last four and a half years there is really not any other logical response to all of this if you are any sort of medically vulnerable. This is a culling, plain and simple. My politics now begin and end with “what will you do with the sick and the disabled” because modern-day communists and fascists alike have given me the exact same answer and I am not exactly thrilled about it!

      • Ivysaur@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
        22·
        20 days ago

        Thank you. I wish I could say it was more common but…it’s not. I have gotten an equal amount of resistance to all of my outreach. I don’t know why it is so difficult.

        • un_mask_me [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
          25·
          20 days ago

          I feel this. I haven’t stopped masking either, and everyone I know has gone back to ‘normal’ with traveling and pretending everything is fine…and I’m just here like

          It’s not even expected to wear masks in medical settings anymore. Makes you feel crazy.

          • duderium [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
            11·
            20 days ago

            There’s still a mask mandate at a small hospital where my spouse works. This place also caters to millionaires and billionaires. The nurses however aren’t the best at keeping their masks on.

            • un_mask_me [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
              18·
              20 days ago

              The cancer center someone I take care of goes to to get her treatments hasn’t had mask requirements since late 2022. I used to take her when she couldn’t drive. She had long covid for 9 months after her spouse brought it home twice and even though her cancer isn’t gone she won’t mask anymore because no one else does and “the CDC and doctors said it’s safe”.

    • Hello_Kitty_enjoyer [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
      8·
      20 days ago

      IMO a lot of long-COVID people are technically not permanently disabled, the body can in some cases heal itself once the COVID goes away (saying this based on experience)

      also it’s not really even about disabled people, I’ve heard more and more accounts of random “unaffected by COVID” people getting it, and even dying from acute COVID infections (someone on here mentioned one such case in winter 2023)

      but yea people are morons

  • nothx [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    16·
    20 days ago

    I’m sooooooo tired.

    Tired of masking

    Tired of defending my masking

    Tired of friends leaving me behind

    Tired of family giving me the guilt trip

    With all of that tho, I still feel right about being as cautious as I am. I don’t feel like I’m wrong for still trying to protect myself. It’s just extremely disheartening and disenfranchising to know that the life I knew is gone and as far as the public is concerned it’s all my fault for not just going back to normal.