The Coronavirus pandemic is still with us.
Most Americans would like to think that we are “over” this plague and can resume speed, pretending that all is well. Evidently, we are still at risk…as variants of the Covid-19 virus are popping up all over the world and are infecting lot of people including those who have already received the vaccine.
Oh, Boy!
However, scientists have predicted many of the things that have occurred, like wave after wave of infection. This is because this particular virus was “novel”, in that it had never been seen before, the transmission mechanisms were unknown, infection and mortality rates were a mystery, and no off-the-shelf medicines or vaccines were available to treat or prevent infections. Epidemiologists predicted, from the very start, that we were in for a long battle in which the learning curve (by epidemiologists and the public) would have peaks and valleys.
Like any virus that is not killed off completely, Covid-19 will mutate over time and the fittest version will survive to continue its biological work. We are seeing that now with the U.K, Delta, and Lambda variants that appear to be more infectious and lethal than the early 2020 variety. It also appears that individuals who have been inoculated against the original Covid-19 virus can contract the virus and pass it on to others. It is possible, as well, that current vaccines may not be effective against new variants.
Oh, Boy!
It is looking increasingly likely that the familiar, detested public health measures (business restrictions, masking, social distancing) we all suffered through in 2020 will be coming back to annoy and enrage us in some form or another.
The folks who will be most upset about this will be the partisans who ignored public health officials last year and who have refused to become vaccinated. We are now headed into the Fall, when flu season normally begins, and a number of “Red” states are experiencing rising infection rates because their governors have spent the past year trying to make political hay out of their “tough” stand on individual liberty, distrust of scientists, misinformation and lack of leadership on vaccinations, and Trump-like machismo (“ignore it and it will go away”).
Yeah, as if.
The Spanish Flu pandemic that smote mankind a century ago lasted for about three years. If that is any indication, we might only be half-way through the current plague. And the irony is that our ancestors had no vaccine…but we do. What a shame.
There are too many know-it-alls, amateur scientists, self-serving politicians, and rabble-rousers shooting their mouths off right now, lending nothing to the solution and confusing the Hell out of many Americans who could get a vaccination today…for free. It’s amazing, really. People in Third World countries would literally give the shirt off their back for the opportunity to be protected. Once again, the United States is a laughingstock.
Oh, Boy!
My heart goes out to the medical professionals who have busted hump, and risked infection every day for the past year…and had to endure the carnage wrought by Covid-19 up-close-and-personal. They must be emotionally wrung out and pissed off, to boot. Vaccines are available, people aren’t using them, and are showing up at hospitals in bad shape, expecting thorough and compassionate care from the beleaguered hospital staff.
Ironically, the heated political debate surrounding Covid-19 (“it’s no big thing”, “masks equal tyranny”, anti-vax hyperbole, “it’s okay to thin the herd”, “Fauci caused the virus”, etc.) has even caused many medical professionals to refuse the free vaccinations…despite being at high risk of contracting the virus.
Go figure.