Free local officials to fight COVID
As physicians, we’re used to encountering illness on a daily basis. And 18 months in, COVID-19 illnesses are, unfortunately, all too familiar.
But this wave is different. Even in our profession, never did we expect it to go on this long. Never did we expect to see so many kids get so sick; never did we expect to see so many ICUS get overrun — again. Never did we expect to have so few staff to go around that we don’t get a break and some of our colleagues even leave the profession. Never did we expect to see so much death. Some communities have been driven to the brink of complete shutdown.
And that’s just it. Every community is different. Every wave of this pandemic has been different. And every patient is different. We all thought in the beginning that this disease’s biggest threat was to the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. The delta variant changed that, attacking younger, stronger people.
That is why we need to change our tactics against this viral enemy. It’s attacking our neighbors, friends and loved ones, so we need a local approach to fight back.
There have been glimmers of hope: Some of the long conversations our physician colleagues have been having with parents are paying off. As their children head back to school — a good many of them unable to get vaccinated yet if they are younger than 12 — these parents are reconsidering and recognizing the importance of getting vaccinated themselves to protect their family members, young and old.
These are the kinds of stories that give us as physicians a brief respite, a sigh of relief. And yet we still find ourselves mourning the recent loss of two teachers in a single school district within days of each other to this dreadful and indiscriminate virus.
The best way to ride these waves in the long run — and, heaven forbid, the next disease outbreak, or wave of flu or RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) — is by giving local physicians, health departments and governing officials the ability to confront what’s before them.
That’s why the Texas Medical Association and Texas Pediatric Society have impressed upon Gov. Greg Abbott the need for all institutions — including school districts, hospitals, health care facilities, medical schools and medical centers, regardless of funding source — to be able to make local, independent decisions regarding vaccinations and the use of masks, preferably in consultation with physicians in those communities and always using evidence-based data to inform their decisions.
As physicians, we know there is no panacea for disease, which is why our organizations are not asking for statewide mandates. On the contrary, we are asking for local entities to have autonomy to fight this virus and protect our residents — our patients — with the best tactics needed on the homefront. We are asking to be able to use every possible tool at our disposal when we need it most. And we really need them now.
It’s what we, as individual physicians, would do for every one of our patients. And we never want to treat each patient the same. We are all different. Let’s treat this pandemic with the respect it deserves.