{"id":92105,"date":"2021-10-23T17:37:56","date_gmt":"2021-10-23T21:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=92105"},"modified":"2021-10-23T17:40:08","modified_gmt":"2021-10-23T21:40:08","slug":"somebody-is-killing-us-see-how-they-are-using-the-deaths-of-vips-to-demonize-anti-vaxxers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=92105","title":{"rendered":"“Somebody is killing us” — See how they are using the vaccinated Covid deaths of VIPs to demonize anti-vaxxers!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Somebody is killing us\u2019: Intermountain CEO has same cancer as Colin Powell, who died from COVID-19<\/h1>\n

At-risk blood cancer patients like Marc Harrison rely on others to get vaccinated to build herd immunity.<\/h2>\n
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(Rick Bowmer | AP) Marc Harrison, president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare, speaks during a news conference Aug. 31, 2021, in Salt Lake City. On Monday, Harrison highlighted the need for more Utahns to get vaccinated in light of Colin Powell’s death from COVID-19. Powell had the same type of blood cancer that Harrison has; multiple myeloma leaves patients immunocompromised and at risk of contracting COVID-19 even if they are fully vaccinated.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Erin Alberty | The Salt Lake City Tribune <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Dr. Marc Harrison, like Colin Powell was, is fully vaccinated for COVID-19.<\/p>\n

But, also like Powell, the Intermountain Healthcare CEO\u00a0suffers from multiple myeloma<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the blood cancer that likely left Powell vulnerable to COVID-19 before\u00a0he died from the virus this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor people with blood cancers \u2014 lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma \u2014 only about half of them respond to an mRNA vaccine,\u201d Harrison said Monday, after Powell\u2019s death. Powell, who served as a four-star Army general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State under George W. Bush, died Monday from the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

While the overwhelming majority of Americans dying from COVID-19 right now are unvaccinated, the virus still is claiming victims from the 2% of people who are immunocompromised by other conditions \u2014 such as cancer or organ transplants \u2014 as well as by drugs that treat other illnesses, like inflammatory bowel disease, Harrison said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody is giving them COVID. Somebody is killing us,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cThe surest way to decrease that is for people to get their vaccinations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the immunocompromised, the vaccine may well be protective, especially with a booster shot, Harrison said. But only about half of patients with blood cancer develop antibodies in response to the vaccine, he said \u2014 and only one-third of transplant recipients do.<\/p>\n

Harrison, for example, only has one-tenth to one-twentieth of some types of immune cells that are needed for \u201can adequate immune system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI guarantee you that everybody knows somebody out there like Gen. Powell or like me,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cThe way herd immunity works is, we are relying on [others] to take good care of themselves and get vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the state\u2019s slightly-below-average vaccination rate, Utahns, Harrison said, are generally \u201ccharitable and good neighbors and very responsible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can only believe that people must really just not understand if they are so cavalier. … I can\u2019t imagine they don\u2019t care about one out of every 50 people.\u201d<\/p>\n

With about two-thirds of eligible Utahns fully vaccinated, Harrison remains vigilant about who he has contact with, frequently masking and asking others\u2019 vaccine status.<\/p>\n

But at one recent public meeting, Harrison said, he found himself in a large group of people who were not masking and were not vaccinated. His risks are so elevated that simply being in the room made him\u00a0eligible for monoclonal antibodies<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 an effective but limited-supply treatment typically given to high-risk patients who have contracted the virus but have not yet developed serious symptoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did make me feel not very valued that people are putting their own convenience ahead of my own life and death,\u201d Harrison said.<\/p>\n

He declined to specify the meeting. At an August news conference,\u00a0Harrison urged Utahns to wear masks<\/a>\u00a0in public settings, get vaccinated, stop the spread of misinformation, and \u201cput your virtual arms around\u201d health care workers. After a bone marrow transplant and experimental CAR T-cell therapy, his cancer has been in remission.<\/p>\n

___
\nhttps:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/2021\/10\/19\/were-all-very-much-risk\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Somebody is killing us\u2019: Intermountain CEO has same cancer as Colin Powell, who died from COVID-19 At-risk blood cancer patients like Marc Harrison rely on others to get vaccinated to build herd immunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}