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  2022-04-20

  'More fearful than I was': At-risk immunocompromised Americans decry lifting of travel mask mandate

  This is a news story from USA Today by Ella Lee. This is about pushback against the lifting of the mask mandate, as it has made immunocompromised people afraid. "Being immunocompromised, it's already a huge risk getting on a plane with everybody masked," said Derek Schmitz, 17, of Oxford, Alabama, who takes immune-suppressing arthritis medication and has to fly for work as a disability advocate. "Now, knowing that I most likely will be one of the only people on a plane with a mask is petrifying." After the lift of the mandate for planes and other public transportation was voided, ride share companies like Uber and Lyft have followed suit in removing their own mandates. "I was angry and felt hopeless," said Erin Masengale, 33, who has multiple autoimmune diseases treated by immunosuppressants. "I just want people to realize that when they cheer for the ending of protections, they’re cheering for the ending of access to everything for people like me." Under the strict definition of immunocompromised, only about 3% of Americans fit that definition. Though, the author mentions that disabled and chronically ill people, a much larger population, also face risk with the lifted mandates. The question I have for people that read this is: is it worth it to keep the mandate even though it caters to a relatively small population? Would it be wiser for people already with these ailments to mask on their own instead of mandating it for everyone else, especially if overall cases and hospitalizations are lower? These are the questions I have after reading this article. I am not against people masking when they see fit, but it is clear that these mandates have worn many people out.
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  2020-06-06

  Chronically ill and highly vulnerable amid Covid-19

  During this Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve learnt that some people might be more vulnerable than others. Who is high risk? I am! A quick google search shows that a person taking high doses of steroids or immunosuppressant medication can be considered as clinically extremely vulnerable. I take both. The fear is real. It has always been here but now I need to be even more careful. The lines are blurred; how ill do I need to feel before deciding that I need to go to the hospital, an incubator for all kinds of infections and an even more potential risk in catching the deadly virus? As much as the hospital is the solution, it might as well be death welcoming me with arms open. The number of infected persons has rocketing at a time, and I could not help falling sick despite not having gone out a single time during the 3-month lockdown. It was finally time to go there, the hospital! I went armed to the teeth with my mask, gloves, and a sanitiser, cautious but still anxious, and I was met with an eerily almost empty building. The place which was usually buzzing with activity at all times of the day only had a handful of doctors and nurses but no patients! It seemed like everyone had respected the lockdown measures to the letter. I was relieved and I was cared for with the staff following all precautionary measures. In a measure of solidarity, the people had decided to respect the lockdown rules to avoid the spread of the virus and had in unthinkingly doing so, potentially saved the health of many vulnerable patients. I felt safe and I still do. Caring for others is after all a social responsibility and an expression of what it means to be human and humane.