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We treat COVID patients. Here's why the 'pandemic of the unvaccinated'
narrative is wrong.

[24]USA TODAY logo USA TODAY 12 hrs ago Bonnie Castillo
a couple of people that are walking on the floor: At a hospital in in
Shreveport, La., on Aug. 18, 2021. © Gerald Herbert, AP At a hospital
in in Shreveport, La., on Aug. 18, 2021.

The delta variant is driving COVID-19 infections back up, even
[25]among younger patients, including people in their 20s to 50s and
our children. Intensive care units in many communities across the
country are once again overflowing. If you watch the news, chances are
you’ve heard all of this can be resolved based on the behavior of just
one group of people.

You’ve probably heard that we have entered a new era called “the
pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

As advocates for public health, registered nurses want to be extremely
clear: There is no such thing as a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

[26]Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each
morning.

USA TODAY's opinion newsletter: [27]Get the best insights and analysis
delivered to your inbox.

The science of epidemiology tells us there is just one deadly, global
pandemic that has not yet ended, and we are all in it together. To get
out of it, we must act together. All of us.

Believe us registered nurses when we say we know how badly people want
COVID-19 to be over. This has been the most devastating, traumatic time
of our careers, but we want people to know that there is hope. It is
absolutely possible to end the pandemic.

Vaccines are an extremely critical part of a public health program to
get us there, and nurses encourage everyone who is able to get
vaccinated to do so.

Vaccines can help [28]prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death
from COVID-19. The delta variant has made breakthrough cases an
increasingly pressing issue, and being vaccinated can be the difference
between our patients having mild symptoms – and our patients dying in
the prime of their lives.

However, vaccines alone won’t end COVID-19. They are one important
component of a robust infection control program, and we have so many
other tools in our toolbox that we must use to end this pandemic.

Those include: Universal masking, physical distancing, screening and
testing, contact tracing, tracking of breakthrough infections,
ventilation; and [29]for health care workers, optimal protective
equipment, safe staffing, proper isolation of patients and more.

Wear a mask in all public indoor settings

In late July when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention course
corrected its guidance and [30]announced a return to masking in some
indoor settings, nurses celebrated.

We also repeated our [31]ongoing call for a return to universal masking
in all public settings, regardless of vaccination status, a position
from which we have never wavered since Day One of COVID-19.

That’s because nurses follow science and proper infection control, and
we know that wearing masks is cheap, simple and [32]effective for
reducing the spread of the virus.

Future variants could evade vaccines

As nurses, we’re all about prevention and helping patients avoid
illness in the first place – and that means preventing transmission
entirely. If we don’t stop the virus from circulating and mutating, we
could get [33]variants that can evade our vaccines.

We’re all in this together, and if there are actions we all –
regardless of vaccination status – can be taking to stop the delta
variant from surging in our hospitals and our communities, we must do
them. The public health messaging about “pandemic of the unvaccinated”
plays to the worst aspects of human nature and does not encourage all
people to practice the behaviors needed to curb this virus.
COVID-19 statistics: What to know about the delta variant, cases among
children
[34]USA TODAY [35]See more videos
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* [51]a group of people playing instruments and performing on a
counter: Biden pledges to aid Louisiana residents after Ida Biden
pledges to aid Louisiana residents after Ida Biden pledges to aid
Louisiana residents after Ida USA TODAY Logo USA TODAY
* [52]text: AP Top Stories September 4 AP Top Stories September 4 AP
Top Stories September 4 USA TODAY Logo USA TODAY
* [53]Food delivery man wading through the Ida floodwaters in
Brookyn, NY goes viral Food delivery man wading through the Ida
floodwaters in Brookyn, NY goes viral Food delivery man wading
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Going to the store or an indoor gathering? Mask up. Been exposed, even
while vaccinated? Get tested and isolate while you wait for the
results. Able to get vaccinated but haven’t yet? Make that appointment.

Stand with nurses, as we fight for proper infection control on the job,
so our workplaces don’t spread COVID-19.

The delta variant is so [54]much more contagious and deadly than what
we faced back in March 2020, and we can only defeat it by understanding
that we all have a role to play.

As union nurses, we have a unique perspective and practice in working
in solidarity to realize a higher goal for the common good of everyone
– and we never give up on our patients.

Here’s our public health message: The pandemic has not yet ended for
any one of us, but we can all stand together and bring it to an end for
all of us.

Bonnie Castillo is executive director of [55]National Nurses United,
which is the largest organization of registered nurses in the United
States.

You can read diverse opinions from our [56]Board of Contributors and
other writers on the [57]Opinion front page, on Twitter
[58]@usatodayopinion and in our [59]daily Opinion newsletter. To
respond to a column, submit a comment to [email protected].
[60]Mike Thompson, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: [61]We treat COVID
patients. Here's why the 'pandemic of the unvaccinated' narrative is
wrong.
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