Fieldy409 said:
So I was thinking: Places that are being hit hard now, like Italy, Spain, New York, eventually the virus will burn out there right? When the dust finally settles, I hate to say it because if anybody deserves a break its the medical staff, but those medical staff who became confirmed cases and then got better? Aren't they the most valuable people in the world right now? Corona Virus immune people who know how to fight it, surely it would benefit the world immensely when further waves of the virus hit places that people from areas with herd immunity be shared?
So should doctors and nurses that have virus immunity be shared around the world in the coming months?
Doctors and other healthcare workers already do share their services all over the globe through MSF(Medecins Sans Frontieres aka Doctors without Borders), however, where a Physician chooses to practice medicine is a decision made completely by that doctor and no one else. Doctors have lives, families and responsibilities like everyone else and did not agree to enlist in the military as those who are in the military have done, so they are not "property" to have their decisions made for them. What should be understood though is surviving the virus does not necessarily mean that they will be even able to treat patients after.
As I mentioned before, I actually survived a severe respiratory illness myself while working with MSF that almost killed me. I am very lucky to even be alive right now. Many of the people who survive COVID-19 will be left with serious side effects for a very long time, if not permanently, as it does the same thing to the lungs that happened to mine. Part of my lungs are essentially "dead". COVID-19 causes the same immune response that destroys the lung tissue so even though we are extremely lucky to have people survive these type illnesses, they are likely not coming out of this in the same health that they went into it with. I am now at risk of death if I catch a cold or any other mild illness due to the damage that has been done already. My chest and upper back is in constant pain and I have difficulty breathing all the time now. If the air temperature is above 70F or 21C, I start to have difficulty breathing and my oxygen levels drop, so I am now considered a temperature regulated asthmatic. I get light headed and have fainted just from standing up or walking as I would normally do. I have to take a ton of medication every day and avoid being around sick people, stay in air conditioning, avoid dust, steam, smoke or any other air pollutants at all times which is extremely difficult to do considering my field.
Of course we will have many people come out of this in much better shape, but the reality is though that many will have their lives destroyed over this, even though they are still considered "recovered" as far as the media and governments are concerned. Not only will many of our healthcare workers on the front lines that become ill be down for a long time, they may not be able to return to practicing medicine at all due to what can actually happen to them with these type of illnesses.
In addition, we still do not know what immunity we have against this virus after contracting it, or how long that immunity lasts. Sometimes the immunity gained from contracting a virus is not as strong as the immunity obtained from a vaccine, and it is also possible that the healthcare workers would be more likely than other populations to contract the virus more than once due to the constant barrage of repeat exposures they endure in their work environment. Essentially the size of the viral "army" their immune systems will be facing in that environment due to the constant exposure will make it more difficult for their immune systems to keep up. This is why having ample single use PPE is so important.