Posts Tagged ‘covid19’
Thanks to Vaccines, the Golden Age for Children’s Health is Now
Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery 188th in a series By SUE HUNTER WEIR A grandmother tends the graves of two of her grandchildren. Two year-old Freda Aubele died on December 2, 1915. Her six-year-old sister, Annie, died the following day. Their wooden cross is gone but family members placed a new marker on their grave in 2009.Photo credit: Aubele Family The Washington Post recently ran the following headline: “Coronavirus infections dropping where people are vaccinated and rising where they are not.” The story was news only because it specifically referred to the novel coronavirus. We have known for a long time that the numbers of illnesses and deaths decrease when people, especially children, are vaccinated. There are several diseases that were once among the leading killers of young children, which have been either nearly or entirely eradicated in the United States. Since the arrival of vaccines, we no longer have to worry about [...]
Reflections From a Former COVID-19 Case Investigator
By LINDSEY FENNER After over a year working in public health as a pandemic responder, I am back doing my pre-pandemic work. And although this doesn”™t mean the pandemic is over, it does mean this column is at an end. I started writing it because I wanted people to have something to hold onto within the swirl of pandemic uncertainty and anxiety. I realized very quickly that no matter what my job description was on paper, what I was really doing was struggling with people through uncertainty. My job was to listen, to talk through complicated realities that didn”™t fit neatly into a box, to help people who were sick make decisions when there wasn”™t a clear correct choice. And now, after my job is over, what is there to say about what we have all been through together? We are all connected. Which is nothing new, but doing this work meant relearning that every single day. In my role doing case investigation/epidemiology we called people [...]
How We Get to the End (because we’re not there yet)
TIPS FROM A COVID-19 CASE INVESTIGATOR By LINDSEY FENNER Now that COVID vaccines are much more easily available in Minnesota, we have reached what is perhaps the hardest part of this enormous vaccination task: reaching the folks who waited or haven”™t quite made up their minds or still have questions. And as much information as any government public health official can send out in the world, YOU can make a difference by having conversations with loved ones about getting vaccinated. These conversations might be difficult. And it will likely take more than one conversation. But this is how we get to the end of the pandemic. Some tips for having these difficult yet crucial discussions Listen with empathy and without judgement: These vaccines are new. There is so much information and misinformation about them, it can be overwhelming. It is understandable that people have questions or anxiety about getting their shot. Give folks space to talk it out. Ask [...]
