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Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
@a_longhurst
Senior researcher & political economist @ccpa PhD candidate @SFU. Views mine. Health care services, finance, care economy, policy solutions
British Columbia
policyalternatives.ca/news-research/…
Joined June 2014
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  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Mar 16, 2022
    We have a variant BA.2 probably as transmissible as measles & officials have decided to drop testing & protections. Booster immunity is waning. No 4th dose campaign coming. Delta/Omicron waves show us there’s no “wall of immunity”. I can’t see a spring/summer that isn’t a mess.
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    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Mar 25, 2022
    How on earth did wearing masks that prevent infection and transmission of multisystem disease suddenly become about “comfort levels” and “personal choice”?
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Apr 23, 2022
    Smart people are convincing themselves that this virus is now benign. I get it. We all want the pandemic to wrap up happily ever after. But it’s just not the case. Polio was “mild” for some, debilitating for others. Covid isn’t a cold. It’s a vascular & neurotropic disease.
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Apr 6, 2022
    Society has left my toddler behind. He can't exercise 'personal choice' to get a vax that isn't available. He can't 'choose' to wear a respirator. We're told re/infection is no biggie. Have these ppl read the science? It's a horror show of brain damage & vascular dysfunction.
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Apr 9, 2022
    Anyone else thinking about what constant reinfection, organ damage/decline, Long Covid, and reduced life expectancy means for themselves & their family, and society’s future? (And yes I want to be optimistic about next-gen vaccines & treatments…but this is a hell of a virus.)
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Jun 19, 2022
    Are you noticing that everyone seems to have a chronic (or acute) cough now? Everywhere I go (and I don’t go may places).
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Jun 14, 2022
    I don’t think I would have ever been able to construct a dystopian reality as disturbing as the current one. A zombie-like virus that invades the brain & blood vessels—that we know how to prevent but governments & corporations have convinced populations that it’s the cold. WTAF
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Jul 23, 2022
    Who is ready to start building intentional covid and monkeypox free communities? Because apparently we can’t rely on governments and public health agencies to work towards disease control and elimination. You know, something we achieved over the last 150 years.
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Sep 7, 2022
    A study of 346 previously healthy COVID-19 survivors finds that 73% had cardiac signs and symptoms more than 3 months after infection, and 57% still had them at nearly 1 year. And this, my friends, is why masking is smart, low-burden protection.
    Content cover image
    Long-term cardiac pathology in individuals with mild initial COVID-19 illness
    From nature.com
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Mar 30, 2022
    Many people still think infection is advantageous and provides durable immunity. This is a failure of public health communication. It’s really concerning.
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Jul 5, 2022
    Where did the idea that pathogens inherently evolve to become benign like the common cold come from? Did anyone say this shit about the ‘mild’ acute symptoms of polio? Or HIV?
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Nov 27, 2022
    SARS-CoV-2 causes endothelial damage (blood vessel lining). This leads to arteriosclerosis & cardiovascular disease. In 5-10 yrs, going to be a lot of angry folks who want a refund on the “covid-just-a-cold” lie they were sold by politicians & public health officials.
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Apr 7, 2022
    Mass infection to achieve ‘herd immunity’ didn’t work in December and January, so let’s give it another go in April 2022.
  • user avatar
    Andrew Longhurst @alonghurst.bsky.social
    @a_longhurst
    Sep 29, 2022
    No one is calling for lockdowns. I’m tired of the straw-man response from officials. We’re calling for highly effective, low-burden, low-cost measures that prevent covid spread & protect our health system: ✅universal masking ✅testing & surveillance ✅open windows & clean air