Five hundred and eighty one days ago, I wrote a column that appeared in these pages with a headline on the cover that read “It Needs To End. NOW.” In May 2020 there were no COVID vaccines, and limited treatments, and yet already, many voices had begun to call out the excessive illiberal measures enacted by gubernatorial despots in our bluest states. A year and a half later, the results are in. The critics of lockdowns were right.
Take a look at Sweden. Remember when it refused to lock down and liberal news anchors gravely warned that half the country would be dead by next Tuesday? You don’t hear much about Sweden these days because, in fact, the Scandinavian naysayers had the lowest excess mortality of any European country this year — approximately 785 per 1million people. By comparison, the United Kingdom had 1,657 per million in excess deaths.
Sweden decided to do what other countries refused to: focus on protecting the most vulnerable while letting the vast majority who were not in mortal danger live as normal a life as possible and trust their sense of personal responsibility.
Insidious rules --->READ MORE HERE
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| Illustration by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times |
It has been common knowledge in health care over the past two decades that there is a nursing shortage. Health care providers have developed the ability to manage around the shortage. Among these solutions is the growth of travel nursing, where nurses move around the country to work temporarily where they are needed most during times of increased patients loads.
However, over the past two years, as the country has dealt with COVID-19, we have learned just how exposed the health care industry is to nurse labor constraints. Ask almost any hospital CEO, and they will tell you that labor shortage is the biggest problem they are currently facing.
The stress of the pandemic has taken a toll on all of us, but health care professionals have inarguably taken the brunt of it. Over the past few months, many nurses, therapists and even doctors have retired early or changed professions after experiencing the incredible psychological toll caused by the challenges of caring for patients during this trying time. And as those individuals left the market, they left behind fewer people to care for increasingly sick patients.
It was in this environment that the federal government imposed vaccine mandates.
Most surveys show that well over 90% of health care providers have been vaccinated. Many hospitals that have instituted their own mandates even before the federal one reported much more adherence than expected — meaning fewer people than feared refused to get a vaccine and left their job. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories and resources:
Canada secretly tracked 33 million phones during COVID-19 lockdown: report
US Warship Stuck In Port After COVID-19 Outbreak Among "100 Percent Immunized" Crew
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
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