Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE
In a classic example of fear causing rational thinking to move to the back of the line, renowned doctor Bob Wachter took to Twitter in an extended 25-tweet journaling of his 28-year-old son’s experience with COVID-19.
Dr. Wachtman, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, is generally considered to be a leading expert on COVID, but hearing that his overweight son had tested positive for the illness caused him to panic even though he knew that the odds of a younger vaccinated person dying from COVID are “near zero.”
Wachter has been living life very carefully throughout the pandemic, it would seem, and has encouraged his moderately-high-risk son to do so, as well; his son had recently switched from two-ply cloth masks to KN95 masks at his father’s request in response to the Omicron outbreak.
Here is the initial post, leading to the entire thread:
I’ve been tweeting about Covid for nearly 2 years. But this week it became personal when my 28-year-old younger son got it.
With his permission, I’ll describe his experience & how I approached his situation, given the realities of life and the rapidly changing evidence.(1/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) January 8, 2022
His father lived with constant concern over his son’s exposure: “I’ve worried that he’d get it from work, or from the bus,” Wachter wrote. “But that’s not how it happened.”
His son, who is triple-vaxxed, reportedly watched a movie Monday night with a fully-vaccinated friend. Wednesday morning, his son woke up with flu symptoms, “felt awful.”
…has also been quite careful, came over Monday night to watch a movie. She felt fine, as did he.
Wednesday am (~36 hours later), he woke up & felt awful. Sore throat, dry cough, muscle aches, chills. No taste/smell abnormalities. I told him to stay home, drink fluids…(4/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) January 8, 2022
The doctor, wearing a KN95 mask, brought his son outside and ran an initial rapid test — that the doctor conveniently had “stashed away” — which showed negative, but Wachter was not convinced.
After prescribing his son rest, fluids, and Tylenol, Wachter, according to his tweets, “heated up some chicken soup, bought an oximeter (97%, whew – though his heart rate was 120: concerning) & told him to call me if his symptoms changed or his O2 sat fell <95%.”
Ever the doting father, he remained anxious through the night and recounted his fear on Thursday morning: “Next day, I called him at 9am – no answer. My brain knows the odds of a fully vaxxed young person dying are near-zero. Still, I wondered briefly if he’d survived the night: evidence-based medicine meets parental emotion. I tried again at 10, still no answer. I let myself into his place & found him sleeping… and breathing.”
About an hour later, they heard that his son’s friend had tested positive, so Dr. Wachter immediately administered another rapid test — also stashed away, it would seem — on his son by swabbing both his nose and throat; this is apparently a more definitive way of testing. It, of course, came back positive.
Wachter took to Twitter again to express his “strange guilt – not entirely rational, but real – for not having protected him.” Although he knew his son was likely to recover with no issues, “when it’s your kid, you freak out a bit.”
…seemed secure. So one more case omitted from the public #’s (which makes skyrocketing case counts even more amazing).
He called in sick to work, set himself up for at least 5d of strict isolation, & I set out to figure out his prognosis & if treatment was merited. I…(12/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) January 8, 2022
He also reported that they canceled a scheduled PCR test. “One more case omitted from the public #’s,” the doctor wrote, seemingly in disappointment.
My son should do OK, but the illness & the anxiety it causes are miserable. Resigning ourselves to getting Omicron doesn’t seem right, especially since the surge may be short-lived. I still think it’s an experience best avoided – for you and your loved ones – if you can. (25/end)
— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) January 8, 2022
His son is recuperating well, it seems. By Sunday, Wachter updated on Twitter: “Better today, though throat’s still bad. Many going through far worse….Grateful to people who offered test kits – we snagged a few so all set.”
While Wachter had well-wishers respond to his story, not everyone felt so inclined:
now let’s hear the story about the thousands of business owners who lost everything, the teenagers who committed suicide, the children who are behind in school
— Tony Pesto (@tonypesto1) January 9, 2022
From the article, I can see how the son’s weight has always been an issue. I can only imagine all the comments about his body, well meant “advice” and everything in-between this man has been hearing for 20 years! The psyche is so powerful, being fearful all the time how abusive.
— DHG (@hernandezdt) January 9, 2022
For a little perspective, his son got Covid, he was not hospitalized, he did not need or take any medication, he slept it off, and he was fine.
That is excellent news. 🙏🏻
He seems like a loving, worried father, but everything was fine. Just like 98.5% of cases.
— Tony Michael Replies (@TonyMichael2) January 10, 2022
How do you know that his vaccine helped? I also have a son who tested positive recently. He is 18 and unvaccinated. He had a fever for a day and a sore throat next day. He stayed in his room, drank a ton of water and played video games. He’s fine now.
— Shelley Ibrahim (@newshelleyib) January 8, 2022
My son, who is in his 20s and is therefore at virtually no risk from covid even though he’s fat, took three “vaccine” shots but caught the virus anyway, & then had predictably mild symptoms while I freaked out about his treatment & rehashed his boring story for Internet clout.
— Ostrogothic King (@alboinusrex) January 9, 2022
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Pregnant journo gets help from TALIBAN after New Zealand rejects entry over convoluted COVID rules - February 1, 2022
- President of El Salvador openly asks if there’s a ‘deliberate plan’ to ‘destroy the US from within’ - February 1, 2022
- Scientists speak out on COVID lab leak theory, and how they were silenced: ‘All about politics’ - February 1, 2022
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!