🧵 We have sacrificed so much for you over these past 18 mon…

that my kids or husband would get sick. Like so many other healthcare workers, I have an elaborate decontamination routine that I do faithfully after every single hospital shift, to try to decrease the risk of bringing the virus home to my family. 2/

I thought about staying in a hotel. I did all the grocery shopping alone since I was already getting exposed at work. We masked meticulously when not at home. Their school had fantastic safety protocols & we also took advantage of virtual options during weeks of highest risk… 3/

of potential inadvertent transmission (after breaks when other families may have travelled). We pressed “pause” on participation in sports during the height of the summer & winter surges. We cancelled birthday parties, did virtual playdates, etc, etc. Why did I do all this? 4/

Because I know how bad this virus 🦠 can be, what it can do to even healthy individuals. It’s not just death; it’s long covid, it’s profound debility after hospitalization, it’s damaged heart muscle & scarred lungs. It’s persistent symptoms like poor exercise tolerance, … 5/

fatigue, loss of smell/taste, prolonged cough, ongoing shortness of breath, etc., even after mild illness. I didn’t want to risk any of that for my kids or my husband. And so we’ve been careful for 18 long months. Hubs & I got vaccinated 💉as soon as we were eligible. 6/

But our kids aren’t old enough to be eligible. And then you forced schools to reopen without the ability to implement the same measures that kept kids & staff safe last year. And you doubled down on that despite Delta🦠 being 2-3x as contagious & cases starting to surge again. 7/

And as a direct result, my kiddo, who I’ve managed to keep from coming into contact with a known COVID+ person for 18 long months, was exposed within only 3 days of starting school. THREE DAYS.
We’re still masking; we never stopped. My kids are great about wearing their masks. 8/

I bought the best quality masks I can find. But if others aren’t masking up also, my not-yet-old-enough-to-be-vaxxed kids can be, will be, & already have been exposed. And that’s on you @dougducey & @AZGOP.

I’m furious.
I’m deeply disappointed at how many care so little … 9/

for others in their community, for their kids’ friends & family members & teachers. That they care so little for the healthcare workers who have been beaten down over & over again for the past 18 months, but are picking themselves up to meet the monster yet again. 10/

We don’t want you to call us heroes. We want you to give a damn about someone other than yourself. We want you to wear a piece of cloth over your nose & mouth for a little while. We want you to teach & expect your kids to do it too. So that we can *prevent suffering & death.* 11/

We have sacrificed so much for you over the past 18 months.

And it took only 3 days for you to destroy one of the last things I was hanging on to - the ability to keep my kids safe.

Kids & parents have the #Right2SafeAZSchools. Public health shouldn’t be political.

12/12