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Why Are Healthcare Workers Still Dying of Covid-19?

Craig Spencer MD MPH
Medium Coronavirus Blog
3 min readMay 31, 2021

Photo: John Cameron/Unsplash

My heart sank when I heard Romeo “Romy” Agtarap died of Covid-19. He had recently retired from nursing after two decades in the emergency room. But when Covid-19 surged into New York City last spring he joined us again on the frontlines. In April 2020, the virus that brought Romy out of retirement took his life.

Over 115,000 health care workers around the world have died from Covid-19. We must make sure no more fall victim to this virus. That should be easy, as vaccines provide near-perfect protection against severe disease and death from Covid.

That’s why we should immediately ensure every health care worker around the world has access to a Covid-19 vaccine. Sadly, that isn’t happening.

Globally there are approximately 59 million health care workers. This includes both the doctors and nurses who treat patients as well as the laboratory technicians, pharmacists, and other professionals indirectly involved in patient care.

It’s impossible to overstate the impact of losing 115,000 health care workers. That’s the equivalent of losing all the doctors in California, the state with the most physicians. And it’s more than the number of…

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Medium Coronavirus Blog
Medium Coronavirus Blog

Published in Medium Coronavirus Blog

A former blog from Medium for Covid-19 news, advice, and commentary. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Craig Spencer MD MPH
Craig Spencer MD MPH

Written by Craig Spencer MD MPH

ER doctor | Ebola Survivor | Public Health Professor at Brown University | A Few Other Things

Responses (4)

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I think it’s also important to highlight that healthcare workers are still suffering with side effects from COVID 19. Many experience medical gaslighting, preventing proper and timely treatment. Yes, COVID-19 is new. Post viral syndromes and the symptoms associated are not.

As a doctor, I'm pretty sure you've heard of Ivermectin by now... shame on you for not even mentioning it. Here's a study showing 0% infections for healthcare workers taking it, vs. 58% infection rate for workers not taking it…

Craig, thank you for drawing attention to the heartbreaking reality global healthcare workers are facing. May the tides turn in this reality. Thank you for all you’ve done and continue to do in service to others.