Physicians, nurses, residents, and students writing on KevinMD during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, most of it in real time between March 2020 and 2022: the first weeks and the shortages, the surge, redeployment, schools and masks, the vaccine's arrival and the people who refused it, and what the years did to the people who worked through them. This archive is a primary record of what clinicians wrote as it happened, and more of it was written anonymously than any other subject on the site. For that record organized as a timeline, with the disagreements recorded as physicians made them, see COVID-19: what physicians wrote as it happened. For what physicians said about burnout in those years and since, see Physician burnout: what physicians say, in their own words.
Reading this title, you’re probably shaking your head in disbelief, disgruntlement, or more than likely a passionate mixture of the two. And for good reason: It’s no secret that seniors are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19, especially when considering that they are drastically more likely to require hospitalization and even die if they do contract the virus. Further, if you’re among those registered for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment, you’ve probably sat …
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Why we should prioritize vaccinating young adults. Now.
COVID-19 is the first-ever “politicized pandemic” in human history. COVID-19 happened in an era of widespread social media which helped the general population to understand the disease better and faster. However, the public also formulated an opinion about it. The problem was that their opinions were distilled by the information they were exposed to. And a large chunk of the information available was not scrutinized or scientifically proven.
This is a …
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Does your reaction to COVID reveal your political leaning?
So many of us keep looking around and thinking, what now? Meaning now that “it’s” over, what is next. Are we supposed to go back to that life from before? Is that what is happening? Isn’t that what we are seeing on social media and in the lay press. The return to normalcy. The “freedom” to get our lives back. The right to our liberties and pursuit of happiness.
But what …
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We don’t have to leave medicine to heal
Joseph B. Fraiman is an emergency medicine physician currently practicing at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center and three other regional hospitals in Louisiana. This interview, conducted by journalist Martha Rosenberg, has been edited for clarity and length.
Rosenberg: Working at ERs in Louisiana hospitals that serve bayou communities, how seriously were you affected by COVID-19?
Fraiman: When COVID-19 began, as the only physician overnight, I was pronouncing or intubating patients two or three …
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Research and censorship in an uncertain time
We stood at the bedside. Our eyes met through plastic goggles and face shields. Wordlessly, we acknowledged a palpable shift. We three pediatric emergency physicians staffed our New York City ER that late fall day, caring for the third teen in a row echoing the same sentiments: I feel exhausted, hopeless, alone.
COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the lives of children and teens in ways we are just now starting to comprehend.
Reflecting on March …
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Dying of loneliness: the COVID-19 epidemic in children and adolescents
A couple of weeks ago, I received a text from my aunt that included a link to a physician-created YouTube video about the COVID vaccine. The creator has built her fame and fortune as an anti-vaccination proponent. Knowing that her videos are rubbish, I ignored the text.
A couple of days ago, I received the same text message, this time with my aunt imploring me to “PLEASE READ!” I went back …
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How to stop the anti-science charlatans
I remember the time (about one year ago) when I could only provide one COVID test for patients walking into urgent care: the PCR or polymerase chain reaction.
Back then, patients had no choice other than to get a nasal swab that was uncomfortable, irritating, and tended to bring them to tears. Now, there are many different types of COVID tests available, but you should be well-informed about what each test …
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How to know which COVID test is right for you
COVID-19 has changed nearly every aspect of society as we know it, and doctors in hospitals across America are at the forefront of those changes. As a pediatric infectious diseases doctor who also writes curriculum to help the next generation of doctors prepare for their medical exams, I’ve seen firsthand how this current pandemic is changing our roles with patients, shifting what families and communities expect from us, and expediting …
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3 lessons I’ve learned as a doctor during the pandemic
In the “before times,” most Americans went about their lives relatively unpreoccupied with death. In fact, one CBS News poll found only 14 percent of Americans spent “a lot of time” thinking about their own mortality.
What a difference a pandemic makes. With every masked trip to the grocery store, every passerby who coughs too close and every “doom scroll” through …
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Doctors can’t cope with the anguish of COVID-19 casualties
About half of America’s seniors are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and close to three-quarters have gotten at least one shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
This is good news. Seniors have suffered disproportionately from the coronavirus. They have become gravely ill, passed away, and passed the time over the last year in complete isolation.
When the vaccines first became available, health officials wisely moved older adults to the …
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The missing link in the vaccine chain: caregivers
During medical residency, one’s goal is two-fold: to provide compassionate and evidence-based care for patients and training and learning.
But when a global pandemic emerges, we rise to serve, upholding our oath to care for the sick and our duty to our profession. The privilege of this role during an unprecedented time in history means that I witness the toll this pandemic has taken on people from all walks of life. …
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A physician gives a dose of hope
The Major League Baseball season is in full swing, and nothing reflects the variable nature of our country’s response to COVID-19 better than how major cities are continuing to respect (or ignore) the virus and their baseball teams are handling fans. In Toronto, they are not even letting the Blue Jays play in their country, while in North Texas, it is as if there isn’t even a virus out there …
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Missouri and Texas: a tale of 2 COVID cultures
The door to our pre-pandemic world seemingly stands before us. Vaccines are becoming more accessible, and some COVID-19 restrictions have loosened. We simply have to open the door and return to our pre-pandemic life, right? Back to the future we know? If only it were that simple. Our previous reality has vanished. Millions of lives have been lost, and millions more suffer from the consequences of the pandemic. People we …
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Post-pandemic life: Back to the future
Four months into the largest U.S. vaccine rollout in decades, it’s become clear that the messaging surrounding COVID-19 vaccination efforts is as important as the science behind them.
That was true when the first COVID vaccines were introduced in December at hospitals and nursing homes and even more so after the federal government on Tuesday paused the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after reports of extremely rare but very serious — in …
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The J&J COVID vaccine pause: What the experts are saying
Zoom: It’s now a verb. This pandemic has led to people using the digital space to stay connected, learn, and interact. We’ve had these capabilities for years, but its true essence did not come to light until a deadly virus shut the world down. In medicine, many visits turned to telehealth. Physicians skeptical of telemedicine were now forced to use this platform to continue health care delivery. As a residency …
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One year into the pandemic: It’s now time to Zoom out
VIPIT is the medical term given to the phenomenon of developing clots in various parts of the body after certain (not all) COVID-19 vaccines. VIPIT stands for vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia, a complicated term explained simply as clotting of the thrombocytes or platelet cells in the blood vessels after receiving the COVID vaccine.
Clearly, understanding this newly evolving condition is very limited, but what we know so far is extremely concerning. …
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COVID-vaccine induced thrombosis as explained by a hematologist
