Gryzemuis on 1/2/2021 at 14:38
That's what I wrote 7 posts above.
UK in the lead. The Netherlands are at the bottom. Only Bulgaria is doing worse. FML.
SubJeff on 1/2/2021 at 15:44
I'm sure your great pensions will make up for it. :p
We're still having a big issue with no second doses being given. We'll have to wait for everyone to catch up in pure numbers and then look at the proportion having second doses. It matters - the vaccination course is not complete without that second dose. Lots of healthcare workers are still getting Covid after the first doses.
Gryzemuis on 1/2/2021 at 16:05
Quote Posted by SubJeff
I'm sure your great pensions will make up for it. :p
Thanks for rubbing that in. :crying
Pensions is NL are the best in the world. (
https://www.google.nl/search?complete=0&q=best%20pensions%20in%20the%20world) They are. People work about 1 day per week for their pension (20%+ of our income goes to a pensionfund). However, that is not true for everyone. Lower-income jobs often don't save for pensions. (Meaning those people depend 100% on the minimum state-paid pension). I myself have had the luxury of having many (many!) years of "sabbatical" vacations. So the years I have gotten a salary, and paid for my pensionfund are rather low. There's also been a few years I've had a foreign contract. My pension will suck.
I had hoped to work and improve my pension a bit in this decade. But at the moment it's pretty hard to find a (decent) job. And my age on paper keeps increasing each year, making it harder and harder to find a job. (That's only on paper, in reality I'm staying young forever. Of course).
faetal on 2/2/2021 at 00:27
Quote Posted by SubJeff
Some will end up with PTSD, no doubt.
My brother in law is on the front line and is behaving very unlike himself for a while now.
It's like being in the trenches. This is going to leave a scar on health services everywhere, and I can see a lot of people leaving the profession.
SubJeff on 2/2/2021 at 10:07
I spoke to a French consultant anaesthetist on the phone, last year in May I think.
It was about something else, but I asked how the Covid sustain was going and they gave a small narrative, which sounded absolutely draining, on how dreadful and like a war zone it was, and that they had never ever seen anything like this. They honestly sounded quite fatigued and at risk of snapping if things didn't change. I've not followed up on it but I imagine they are totally knackered by now.
SubJeff on 2/2/2021 at 10:14
Quote Posted by faetal
I can see a lot of people leaving the profession.
Yes, there is talk of this in doctors groups at the moment - people getting ready to get out after this is all over. Which is very very concerning. But just this morning some of my gasser friends are posting about how harrowing this all is on FB.
faetal on 2/2/2021 at 14:55
It's stress from all directions:
1) Fatigue from so much additional work and from being hauled out of your specialty into emergency work with high frequency
2) Fear of the actual virus, since they are staring it in the face day in day out (this is also distorted by them disproportionately seeing the more severe cases requiring medical attention) and losing freinds and colleagues in the profession to it
3) Emotional strain of losing so many patients, having to tell their families to say goodbye over video calls or on the phone, generally seeing people dying from severe respiratory distress is quite harrowing
4) Loss of confidence from losing so many patients
5) Exasperation as large swatches of public (fucking asshole) idiots protest about how it's all made up and hospitals are empty, implying that they are somehow all in on a scam together
6) Etc.
Gryzemuis on 4/2/2021 at 22:40
Today the USA has crossed the line of 450k covid-deaths. At this rate, its gonna take 2 to 3 weeks to get to half a million.
Who was it again, who said in the summer of 2020 that the USA wouldn't hit 20k deaths? Or whatever low number we were discussing? Does the US have a proper vaccination plan now? I hope so for them. Vaccinations in NL are still a mess. It's a disgrace. I hope the rest of the world does better.
faetal on 4/2/2021 at 23:30
Well Novartis have just signed a deal with Pfizer / BioNTech to lend a hand with production, which should help from the supply side.
demagogue on 5/2/2021 at 02:32
Quote Posted by Gryzemuis
Who was it again, who said in the summer of 2020 that the USA wouldn't hit 20k deaths? Or whatever low number we were discussing?
There are people that still don't think (or appear not to) that it's hit 20k deaths.
When you believe there are conspiracies everywhere, you can believe any number they want you to.
I don't know what's happening in Japan. It's apparently being handled by the local governments, so I assume I'll just get something in the mail one day. But it doesn't help in knowing in advance what's happening.