COVID-19...If Only It Was As Over As We Think It Is

Pandemic? What Pandemic??

(Stoopid iz wut stoopid duz; these troglodytes should check their knuckles for scabs)

I am completely up to date on all of my recommended vaccine shots and boosters. And I am deeply thankful for the scientists and medical professionals who have made this fearsome disease less dangerous since its inception. 

I am also fully aware that at my age and stage in life, this diagnosis is not to be taken lightly. As of the writing of this note, my symptoms are relatively mild. 

• Dan Rather

There’s some discussion among some in the medical community who believe that COVID-19 will eventually become much like the flu, an annoying reality requiring a yearly shot. I don’t know enough about immunology or epidemiology to speak to that theory with any authority, but I know that we’re not there yet. Not even close.

Whatever the future might hold, COVID-19 has not died down enough to be considered a nuisance. Though we as a culture tend to downplay the threat, the virus is still out there. No, it’s not doing nearly the damage it was 12-18 months ago (thank you, vaccines), but it can and will still bite us in the ass.

Though I’ve had both shots and two boosters, I got COVID-19 in mid-August after going to an outdoor concert. Erin was fine in four days; I was flat on my ass for ten, and it took me a few weeks after that before I felt anything close to normal again.

Journalist Dan Rather just tested positive at the age of 91. Unfortunately, he also was fully vaccinated and boosted, and COVID-19 got him. Thankfully, his symptoms so far are mild, but at 91, nothing is truly mild, especially a virus like COVID-19.

Like most Americans, I’ve become haphazard in how and when I wear masks. For example, I wore a mask when I flew to Minnesota because I didn’t want to risk bringing anything home to my mother. On the return flight, however, I didn’t. Hmm…confined area, recirculated air, full flight; what could possibly go wrong?

Probably nothing, but what are the risks? And are they worth taking?

Collectively, we’ve decided that COVID-19 isn’t a problem anymore. I’m not sure that’s true, but after almost three years of the pandemic, I can understand why Americans are tired of the sacrifices. We’re sick of social distancing, mask-wearing, hand-washing (which doesn’t do anything to prevent COVID-19, anyway), and everything else associated with the pandemic.

Throw in the COVID-19 denialism and what you have is a society primed to jump back into the deep end of life. And jump in, we have. It’s almost like we didn’t lose more than a million of our fellow Americans. Whether that number is so large we can’t process it, or we’ve collectively decided to act as if it never happened, it doesn’t change reality. COVID-19 took a million of our sons, brothers, fathers, wives, sisters, daughters, friends, spouses, and lovers from us.

And we’re acting as if that never happened?

We can’t act as if that horrific truth never occurred. We can’t forget when hospitals had mobile refrigerator trucks on standby to store bodies. We can’t forget those who refused to believe that COVID-19 was real, vaccines worked, and ultimately died horrific, pointless, needless deaths.

Most of all, we should never forget those who spread the disinformation that ultimately cost many lives. Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Alex Jones…it’s a ridiculously long list, and all of them bear responsibility for thousands upon thousands of lives that the proper treatment might have been saved.

Instead, we ended up with people refusing the vaccines because they didn’t trust the government. They’d take Ivermectin, intended for livestock, before getting a COVID-19 vaccine because they saw something on Facebook that recommended it. Yes, they’d believe a posting on Facebook before they’d take the word of a scientist or an MD. Go figure.

Some people refused to believe simple, common-sense science because of the political agenda they sensed to be behind the vaccines. In reality, there was, and is, no politics behind the vaccines- unless you consider saving lives to be a partisan act.

It isn’t, in case anyone was wondering.

𝕐o̴g̴ @Yoda4ever

Whatcha got there?😅

There have been rumors of a COVID-19 resurgence this winter. Given how lightly we’re taking the disease, it’s not difficult to see that prediction coming to fruition. What that will look like is anyone’s guess, but it’s not as if we lack the tools to combat such a resurgence.

What we may lack is the will. If COVID-19 comes roaring back and Governors in blue states begin to re-institute mask mandates, will people follow those mandates? Or will people be so tired of being told what they must do that they’ll refuse to follow even the most basic and sensible suggestions?

I didn’t mention red states because there would almost certainly be a widespread rebellion if Governors reinstated a mask mandate and other COVID-19 restrictions.

FREEDUMB!!!

After close to three years, have Americans lost their willingness to cooperate and do the right thing? I hate wearing masks as much as the next person, but if I have (or need) to, I will. If it’s a matter of protecting myself and those I encounter, I’d willingly make that sacrifice.

If nothing else, the past three years have shown us how selfish we can be when asked to collectively make sacrifices to save ourselves and those around us.

Not an excellent commentary on the state of humanity, is it?