Unvaccinated patients and staffing shortages: A look inside the ICU at one Toronto hospital
Global News
In the intensive care unit of Humber River Hospital are numerous examples of why doctors warn the Omicron variant doesn't always produce a "mild" version of the disease.
Slouched in her hospital bed and wrapped in a blanket, Dawn admits her story is a cautionary tale. She was reluctant to receive a COVID-19 vaccination until she became infected with the disease last weekend.
“I had hesitated. I had been contemplating,” she said. “I just felt that there wasn’t enough known (about the vaccines) and I wanted to know a little bit more. But in the meantime, while the ‘more’ is coming, you could be dying.”
Global News met Dawn, whose last name we’re withholding, during a visit to Humber River Hospital in Toronto. She’s in her 60s and appeared frail but with a warm smile.
She was admitted five days earlier with a bad cough and breathing difficulties.
“This is a virus that’s quite nefarious. I’m going through it and I’m telling you it’s not something you want to play with,” she said. “Be careful, do what we’re supposed to do and be vaccinated.”
As of Jan. 19, the hospital was caring for 175 patients with COVID-19. About 40 per cent were admitted for other reasons and tested positive upon arrival. But in the intensive care unit are numerous examples of why doctors warn the Omicron variant doesn’t always produce a “mild” version of the disease.
“We’re really only seeing critical illness in two types of patients: unvaccinated patients and the immunocompromised patients,” said Dr. Jamie Spiegelman, a critical care physician.
Most of the patients in the ICU at Humber River Hospital are infected with COVID-19 and more than half are unvaccinated. One patient, a 52-year-old nurse from a different Toronto hospital, is diabetic, unvaccinated against COVID-19 and is now on life support.
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