COVID-19 cases are rising in Michigan, especially in areas of the state where people are still unvaccinated. Though vaccinations have been available for months, many people have chosen not to get them yet.
These are the vast majority of the people Dr. Rob Davidson, a doctor working in an emergency room in a rural part of the state, says he has been treating in recent weeks.
On Thursday, Davidson took to Twitter to shed some light on what he's seeing on the ground in a district where 70% of residents voted for Donald Trump in 2020, and misinformation runs rampant. In a twelve-part Twitter thread, Davidson blasted right-wing outlets like Fox News for spreading lies about the vaccines.
According to his LinkedIn, Dr. Davidson is from Spring Lake.
Here is the thread in full for those who don't use Twitter.
Some observations from the ER over the last few weeks in a low vaccination rural part of Michigan where COVID cases are again on the rise. 1/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
The feel is eerily similar to the wave in December/January and the wave in March. We have again seen several weeks of slowly rising test positive rates followed by several weeks of rapidly rising test positive rates. 2/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
Predictably after that came a significant wave of people presenting to the ER with COVID19. And truly 9/10 of those people have been unvaccinated. The vaccinated ones have not been as sick, and most of them are quite old and received their vaccine more than 6 months ago. 3/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
The other similarity between previous waves and the current wave has been the surprise so many my patients express when you tell them they have COVID19. 4/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
Do you routinely wear a mask? No
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
Are you around others who routinely wear a mask? No
Are you vaccinated? No
You have COVID19. Really?!?! 5/12
And for so many who come in feeling truly awful, they are genuinely surprised at how awful they feel. It's as if no-one told them that this was a serious disease that could get them really sick. 6/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
"The flu has never made me feel like this" or "I feel like I have been hit by a truck" or "I feel like I just cannot catch my breath." or "It can't be COVID." 7/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
The single difference this time of course is that every one of my patients who has presented with COVID19 these last few weeks had the opportunity to get vaccinated and the vast majority did not. 8/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
I try not to grill them too much about why. I don't want to seem like I'm rubbing it in. But the most common answer is a version of: "I just didn't think I would get it." or "I heard that the vaccine would make me sick." 9/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
Another feature of the community in which I serve: 0nly 40% are vaccinated, and 70% voted for Trump. I don't ask them where they get their news, but judging by what is on TV when I go in their rooms, @FoxNews is the most likely answer. 10/12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
And as I go room to room, donning and doffing my protective gear, constantly asking people to please put on their masks, the sound of @seanhannity, @IngrahamAngle, or @TuckerCarlson on the TV is a painful reminder of the damage they have done to the people I serve. 11/ 12
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
Stay connected with Detroit Metro Times. Subscribe to our newsletters, and follow us on Google News, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Reddit.And despite the incredible level of illness caused by that malevolent cabal, my staff and I continue to offer comfort, oxygen, decadron, monoclonal antibodies, and occasionally a plastic tube to stave off suffering and death against the headwinds of disinformation and distrust.
— Dr. Rob Davidson #GetVaccinated (@DrRobDavidson) September 17, 2021
