A group of 75 doctors in South Florida staged a walkout earlier this week to draw attention to the overflowing hospitals in the state.
MSNBC reported that the doctors need people to be aware of the effect that the unvaccinated are having on their hospitals.
The protest drew national attention.
Dozens of Palm Beach County doctors urge community to get COVID-19 vaccine www.youtube.com
The frustrated physicians took time before their shifts on Monday from several different Florida hospitals to call out people who are refusing to get the vaccine. The walkout did not include abandoning their patients, but rather to draw attention to their dire situation.
The doctors claimed the people who refuse to get vaccinated despite being able to are overwhelming the health care system and pushing health care workers to the brink of exhaustion because of it.
Dr. Rupesh Dharia spoke at the press conference for the walkout and said:
"We are exhausted. Our patience and resources are running low, and we need your help."
If their actions didn't speak loud enough, their struggle and frustration is easily heard in the voices.
Doctors in South Florida now staging a walk out to protest the number of COVID patients coming into hospital who have not been vaccinated. For doctors to leave their shifts to walk out shows you just how frustrated and angry they must be.— Katty Kay (@Katty Kay) 1629716085
BREAKING: 75 Florida doctors send Governor DeSantis a bold message by walking out in protest after their hospital is flooded with unvaccinated Trumpers who caught COVID, leaving them exhausted and with no more beds nor ventilators. RT IF YOU SUPPORT THESE BRAVE DOCTORS\u2019 PROTEST!— Occupy Democrats (@Occupy Democrats) 1629729717
It is sad that this country has fallen so far that politics comes before protecting our children, every governor in every state that doesn't mandate mask in our schools should be held accountable for every child that does from covid while attending school— Jon O'Dell (@Jon O'Dell) 1629747575
Florida has one of the highest rates of new infections in the country. More than 17,000 people are hospitalized with the disease, nearly a 25% increase over the last two weeks.
People sick with the virus are overwhelming hospitals. While it's possible to survive the disease, those who get it end up taking valuable hospital resources and space.
According to Dr. Kerry Sanders, one of the physicians who participated in the protest, 85% of ICU beds in the state are filled.
This increased and continued level of stress has taken its toll on hospital workers. Even other patients have become exhausted with this.
And this is despite the overwhelming evidence the vaccines help prevent infection, and in breakthrough cases, lessen the effects of infection to reduce hospitalization. And it's free to most people in this country.
It's understandable why doctors are frustrated.
The frustration among physicians must be huge. Why run to doctor if you\u2019re not going to do as they prescribe?— Suz Carragher (@Suz Carragher) 1629761471
The majority of the people in her hospital are the unvaccinated who either declined the vaccine or believe the virus is real.— \u210c\ud835\udd22\ud835\udd36 \ud835\udd16\ud835\udd32\ud835\udd2b\ud835\udd20\ud835\udd25\ud835\udd1e\ud835\udd29\ud835\udd29\ud835\udd1e\ud835\udd0d \ud83c\udfb6\ud83c\udfa7 (@\u210c\ud835\udd22\ud835\udd36 \ud835\udd16\ud835\udd32\ud835\udd2b\ud835\udd20\ud835\udd25\ud835\udd1e\ud835\udd29\ud835\udd29\ud835\udd1e\ud835\udd0d \ud83c\udfb6\ud83c\udfa7) 1629851914
I am a nurse and I have no empathy for those who are unvaccinated either. Including a lot of nurses. If I go into the hospital with a heart attack, I do not want to end of with COVID because you won\u2019t get vaccinated— Regina Salmon (@Regina Salmon) 1629857578
Doctors are at a breaking point. I'd rather then protest and hope some action is taken, than have these doctors quit.\n\nI have a dr friend who worked in Arizona. She was there Jun 2018-Jun 2021. She couldn't taken it anymore. AZ is in COVID denial. She left the state.— Jack Human (@Jack Human) 1629747007
Despite this, some people still tried to debate the issue online.
Yes, vaccinated people are getting the virus, however, it\u2019s the unvaccinated that need the ICU beds. The vaccine lessens the severity of the virus so they do not need hospitalization.— Pam (@Pam) 1629839273
No vaccine is 100%. It's like a seatbelt. It won't prevent a car crash, but will help minimize injury.— Kimberly Van Alen (@Kimberly Van Alen) 1629849573
I have said since the beginning of the pandemic that doctors and nurses need to take this bold action to protest when neededhttps://twitter.com/politicussarah/status/1429787837390626816\u00a0\u2026— Helen Armstrong (@Helen Armstrong) 1629741173
Funny that the same people saying doctors should be able to refuse treatment to LGBTQ+ folks care about the Hippocratic oath all of the sudden when doctors walk out on treating covid patients— GL (@GL) 1629735364
The doctors' staged walkout and protest came just before the Food and Drug administration gave the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine its full approval.
With this new approval, some places are looking to institute vaccine mandates.
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