Get Your Vaccines
No matter what HHS Secretary-nominee RFK Jr. says, science works and keeps us safe. Make sure that, if you haven’t already, you get your vaccines going into the holiday season. I got my COVID booster and Flu shot (in the same arm!) yesterday, and although I’m one of those people who reacts with mild flu-like symptoms, it’s well worth a little temporary discomfort to get the protection!
No chickens were harmed while I spent most of the day in bed—my son Teddy was on hand to fill in and take down some treats.
Increasingly, I’m contemplating the issues we are going to face at the intersection of public health and the rule of law. Dr. Vin Gupta posted on BlueSky today, “We need as many healthcare professionals to be courageous and speak to truth, for our patient’s sake and for the sanctity and credibility of our profession. That starts now. We cannot allow the highly abnormal to be normalized.” He said it in the context of the qualifications, or lack thereof, of Trump’s nominees for key positions in the health sector, including Marty Makary as FDA commissioner, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general, and Dr. Dave Weldon for CDC director, all of whom would work for Kennedy. Each of them is controversial. And, of course, there’s Mehmet Oz for CMS, which oversees agencies including Medicare and Medicaid.
So, there is lots of serious work ahead of us. As I wrote to you last night, this is not the time to be disengaged. Trump is normalizing the unthinkable in front of our eyes. It’s no time to back down or hide your head in the sand. My commitment to you is that I will do my best to be a voice that helps you navigate the legal and political issues, bringing you facts, original court pleadings and documents so you can read them for yourself. I’ll provide the careful analysis you need to make up your own mind about what’s right and what’s wrong, and what it’s necessary for each of us to do.
It’s time to pick ourselves up and get back to work.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
Although I am retired, I’m still a licensed ICU RN, and I approve this message. I also received both shots in the same arm.
Thank you Joyce. Although I am a small fish in a big pond, as a hospice chaplain I spent covid years seeing pts in skilled nursing and other facilities dressed in my full PPE gear because at the time loves one’s were not allowed in facilities, and whenever I hear anyone breathe a hint of covid conspiracy BS (in line at the market, with current pts etc) i speak right up and set them straight. It is unbelievable to me that still so many people think covid was no big deal or it wasnt real. It offends me.