Is the end near, or is it just getting nearer?
Pretend that this whale shark is the Covid-19 virus and the numerous fish that he is about to swallow represent the hapless citizens of India…a very bad scenario indeed.
The Covid-19 pandemic that has had its way with the United States, Europe, and Brazil has now taken a foothold in India, the world’s second most populous country. The infection curve there is now vertical, hospitals are out of beds, the oxygen supply is exhausted, and the coronavirus is mutating like mad in this nation of 1.4 billion people.
The pandemic is out of control in a country where almost twenty percent of human beings reside.
What this means is that the pandemic is not going away, as many had hoped, but rather is gathering strength as it morphs into a more infectious and deadly killer in a huge petri dish known as the Indian sub-continent. As we learned last year, it only takes one infected person to spread the virus into another country and, then, “Katie bar the door!”
All eyes should be on India right now, and every available resource should be directed there post haste.
America is blessed right now to have available vaccines…that are effective with the current strains of Covid-19. Even so, most Americans haven’t yet been vaccinated because: (1) Until now they haven’t been eligible, (2) They are afraid of possible side effects, or (3) They think it would be politically embarrassing for them to do so!
I think that there is a large number of people in category 3 who want to “keep the faith” politically while the rest of America gets vaccinated and herd immunity develops, saving them as well. That way, these so-called “patriots” won’t have to eat their words, that the pandemic is a “hoax”, a Chinese biological attack on America, something to make President Trump look bad, etc.
People in Third World countries would love to receive the life saving vaccine that these dimwits are scorning for silly reasons… like potential side effects.
The truth is that side effects are extremely rare, but possible, with all vaccines. The current hoopla in the United States over the uncommon side effect of blood clotting after a Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccination was based upon 15 known cases out of millions of doses administered…a one in a million side effect, the same odds of getting a serious allergic reaction to a polio vaccination. Getting the Covid-19 vaccination is statistically safer than driving to the location where the shots are administered.
A disturbing possibility that mankind faces right now is that this pandemic will take on a new, more deadly manifestation that is so virulent that even the vaccines that have been developed over the past year will be rendered ineffective.
Yes, it is possible that the virus can mutate faster than the world’s scientists can develop effective vaccines. That would be the nightmare scenario…an existential threat to humanity.
We would be up Shit Creek without the proverbial paddle.