He is in the intensive care unit. He has an induced coma. First he caught COVID-19, then he suffered pneumonia and now septicemia. For days an old friend of mine from youth has been fighting for his every breath. I fear for his life, as do his family and many other friends. You probably would have saved yourself the hell of artificial respiration and coma if you had been vaccinated. It did not. I do not know why.
The first thing is to survive
However, what I am sure of is that when I saw him in the intensive care unit, my anger towards the unvaccinated disappeared. It has vanished into thin air. Now, I just wish that my childhood friend recovers.
His fight for survival, in which I participate from afar, exhausts all my strength. I feel like there is no room for anger and aggressiveness. What remains is emptiness, exhaustion, despair, and a shred of hope. Every blood test that improves, every antibiotic that works, fuels optimism. Concern for a loved one overshadows all other thoughts.
Astrid Prande de Oliveira, periodista de Deutsche Welle.
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A pandemic of emotions
But this pandemic always makes me reflect and pushes me to the limit. Of course I would have advised my friend to get vaccinated. He never spoke about his doubts. Now it is useless to argue about that.
And honestly, I do not want to continue arguing on the subject. I am tired and jaded of the endless discussions between anti and pro vaccines, the debate about contact restrictions, lockdowns and the absurd speculations about the supposed secret masterminds of the pandemic.
In recent days, vaccination supporters have sparked a silent mass movement. “Rise of those who stand in line” is what the newspaper has called TAZ to the millions of people who have lined up to get vaccinated.
Stigma doesn’t help
Vaccination saves lives, but complacency and arrogance do not. Time and again, this pandemic imposes a friend-enemy scheme on me. A distorted image that does not correspond to reality and that does not help anyone.
Because not all those who are not vaccinated – or who have not yet done so – are opponents of vaccination. Not everyone who wears the mask under their nose is necessarily reluctant to use it. Not everyone who goes to a party in pandemic times becomes a super-spreader of the virus.
It is difficult to escape from this thought and that is precisely what worries me. I’m happy for every person vaccinated against COVID-19, and at the same time, I want to keep talking to unvaccinated people, not stigmatize or be stigmatized.
Unfortunately this does not always work. But thinking about my lifelong friend in intensive care helps me keep trying. Empathy is more important to me than ideologies and beliefs.
Wave of social solidarity
Since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago, there has been a wave of political radicalization in Germany. But there has also been an even greater wave of social solidarity. I am amazed at how strong social cohesion remains, despite the enormous stress of the pandemic. Especially in intensive care units.
I am deeply grateful for that. Because without this solidarity and empathy, there would be no glimmer of hope in a pandemic that has already claimed the lives of more than five million people around the world. (ju / lgc)
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