Why are unvaccinated US soldiers discharged while infected nurses are required to work overtime? Why is adapting to the new normal a distant dream for America?
The US army said in a statement on Wednesday that soldiers who refuse to get vaccinated will be discharged to maintain combat readiness. The mandate applies to all soldiers, cadets, and reservists unless specified otherwise. These are the latest discharge orders from a US military branch since the Pentagon made vaccines mandatory for service members in August 2021.
America witnessed a surge in Omicron infections and COVID deaths in 2022 (7 million COVID cases and more than 34000 deaths). Due to increasing infections, healthcare and frontline workers are exhibiting stress and psychological symptoms similar to combat veterans. The National Health Service (NHS) is pressurizing hospitals and healthcare workers to make tough decisions due to bed and medicine shortages. Asymptomatic individuals or people exhibiting minor symptoms are requested to self-quarantine, while individuals with severe health issues are discharged as soon as symptoms subside.
In 2021, underpaid and overworked nurses and support staff continued to work, even after getting infected with the disease. The year 2022 is different though, as per the recent mandate, infected but vaccinated nurses can continue to work however unvaccinated, healthy nurses must stay at home. Hospitals are witnessing a quitting trend amidst the Omicron surge and throngs of people are refusing to get vaccinated. The future of America’s healthcare is at stake. The turn of events is accelerating vaccination drives across the nation.
