Anger and the Delta variant

The Delta variant of Covid-19 is sickening un-vaccinated people – including record numbers of young people – filling ICUs, taxing caregivers, and stoking economic uncertainty. Today we explore the anger many feel with the anti-vax, anti-mask advocates through the lens of two clinicians, a New York Times editorial board member, and a therapist.

We return to two caregivers who poignantly described the Winter Surge in Southern California in our episode "COVID-19 Realities," in January 2021. Listener advisory: The effects on these caregivers of treating unvaccinated patients is startling.

Zahra Esmail, DO

Palliative Care Physician

Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center

Torrance, Calif.

Christina Rothans, LCSW

Palliative Care Social Worker

Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center

Torrance, Calif.

We discuss the challenge of getting public health messages to compete with economic messaging in a culture that is predisposed to treat the market with primacy. 

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Binyamin Appelbaum 

Lead writer on Economics & Business, author of "The Economists' Hour"

The New York Times Editorial Board

New York, N.Y.

Finally, we turn to a therapist to ask about strategies for moving beyond the anger that many feel with the resurgence of serious illness and deaths with the Delta wave – something that could have been prevented with a higher percentage of vaccination. 

Alexandra Fleming, MSW, LICSW

Therapist

Swedish Center for Perinatal Bonding and Support

Nurturing Wisdom Therapy

Seattle, Wash. 

CONTRIBUTORS

• Binyamin Appelbaum
• Seán Collins
• Alexandra Fleming LICSW
• Zahra Esmail DO
• Christina Rothans LCSW

KEYWORDS

• delta variant
• anti-vax
• hospitalizations
• anti-mask
• covid-19
• anger
• palliative care
• vaccination
• icu
• covid