Was thinking about that idiot co-worker last month that said, “it’s the flu”. One of the things I said in my incendiary response was, “I have never known anyone that died from the flu”. Note that I cannot give exact numbers on COVID. We stopped counting in late December when my unvaxxed F-I-L nearly died from it. The small community he lives in is still reeling from, and simultaneously ignoring, the slaughter.
FLU: zero (my great-great grandmother and one of her children did die from one of the early waves of the “Spanish” influenza outbreak.)
COVID: stopped counting at 40. But at least 20 more died since January. Those later deaths were all from a rural MAGAt-hole in PA.
The numbers I include here are people that myself or my spouse knew personally. We weirdly even had some cross-overs between work associate deaths. Didn’t even know we had worked with/adjacent to the same people until I mentioned a death and it turned out he’d worked with her previously. And only a teeny amount of these folks died prior to vaccine availability. So when I see that the vaccine could have prevented 250,000 deaths, I think that’s a lowball #.
I know two people personally who passed away from covid. One was my uncle, early 70s. Then my friend's mother, who was infected by him working at tesla factory. He is sorely regretful fur not vaxxing.
I know of 3 other individuals not directly, either through friends or family. I know of no one who has died from the flu. Maybe two people in my past died from pneumonia.
I’m 62. 0* flu
3-COVID +1 “Likely” COVID all extended family
1 in 30’s AV fit, trim, and healthy died less than 10 days after onset of symptoms
1 in 70’s AV cured Hep-C infection slow torturous death in ICU
1 in early 60’s pre vax smoker, heavy alcohol and drug use in recovery 10+ years
1 in 80’’s “likely” COVID vaxxed and boosted lung cancer survivor
*While researching on ancestry.com, I recall seeing a death certificate for an ancestor, cause of death listed as influenza. .
I don't know of anyone who has died of the flu. I personally know of 6 people however who died of Covid. Prior to vaccines 3 deaths : my best friend, the principal at my sister's school (she was a friend as well), and the neighbor across the street. All of these people were old-ish (like me) but aside from age the only one who was also in poor health was the neighbor (and he was in really poor health). After the vaccine was available 3 more deaths: a high school friend (vaccinated), my s-i-l's sibling (conspiracy theorist and serious anti-vaxxer - the dead sibling, not my s-i-l who is a sane, educated and vaxxed to the max) and another woman (of the acquaintance level, again, conspiracy theorist and serious anti-vaxxer). My friend from high school was vaccinated not sure if she was boosted but I would be surprised if she wasn't - she was already on oxygen from COPD - and how about this for irony - she was infected by the doctor who was her husband's cancer surgeon. Her husband died about a month after her but I don't think it was Covid. I think he just gave up. The other two women who died were healthy but old-ish one in her 60's and the other in her 70's. You know when you get to be in your 70's you start getting used to people dying - but it's always cancer or heart attacks or strokes. Or just plain old age - during the pandemic I lost two of my aunts. Since they were in their late 90's (and both vaxxed, boosted and isolating at home with all their books and music, it was more a matter of taking a nap and not waking up, instead of gasping for breath or strangling on your own mucous. So I'm calling that a win.
2 in my family before the Covid vaccines were available. No one of the flu. My dad lived to almost 91, got a flu shot every year. No vaccine for Alzheimer's 😥
My father was born in 1916, when he was 13 (maybe) he went to visit his grandmother in another town, his whole immediate family caught something and they all died. So 10 people.
Covid more recently - 7 people in my small town who were opposed to vaccines, two of them were siblings who died a week apart. 1 person who was vaccinated (I assumed cause he was travelling in Europe) died a month or two ago he was 63 slim and fit, he was an avid hiker.
That's a heavy load of loss for you. I'm so sorry.
No one I know died from influenza or Covid or was hospitalized from either - and I'm up there in age. I live in very blue Minneapolis, where mask and shut-down compliance was high, as is the vaccination rate.
A nephew lives in a MAGAt suburb- his neighbors dropped like flies from April 2020 through Delta in winter 2021. Our next door neighbor is a paramedic in a different MAGAt area. He considers Covid19 a Darwinian thinning of the GOP herd.
0 flu
1 family member from covid
I’ve known 1 person to die of the flu. He was young, about 35, diabetic, and had refused the flu vaccine despite his doctors advice to take it. He was evacuated to a different city and soon died of the infection. For COVID I’ve known 4 people who died…one pre vaccine, 2 others had comorbidities and age, had been vaccinated with 2 shots before the booster dose was available. The other person who died was a healthy man with no comorbidities who had 2 shots but was not eligible for the booster when he contracted the infection. He died in january ‘22 at age 63; it will be several years before scientists can unravel the reasons behind some people getting severe disease, while others have minor symptoms. His Mother is devastated, and I think of her whenever I get boosters or wear a mask...to help myself and everyone else. So final tally: flu observed over 50 yrs=1, COVID over 2 yrs=4
My mother was extremely ill with the London flu. I've been hospitalised twice with pneumonia (and had it a third time without the hospital part).
I directly know three people who died of Covid-19, a man and woman in my town with three small children, who died before a vaccine was available, and a Korea War veteran in my town who died before the vaccine.
I don’t know anyone ever that has died from flu. I don’t know anyone personally that has died from Covid, but I’ve heard of mothers and aunts of friends who have died. They’ve all been between 80-99. Our favourite AFN was just yammering on in a video on FB that she was recently in the ER with breathing difficulties because of the ‘flu’ she got after attending a Defeat the Mandates rally. She got one of her cronies to ‘advocate’ for her. She was worried about going there because the hospital has tried to kill her twice, because she‘s so high profile and important…
Surprisingly few for me. No family members or actual friends. A couple of acquaintances have died, but while I knew them, I wasn't particularly close to them. It's surprising that I don't know more because I used to frequent a neighborhood bar for happy hour and that core group of regulars (mostly red hats of course) refused to change their habits when the pandemic started, and they all passed the rona around like it was a collection plate. These folks are 50's to 70's in age, most heavy drinkers, many smokers...and none of them died while infected!