To the people out there who did their part by rolling up their sleeves and getting their vaccines: thank you. If you're still treating COVID like the existential threat it is, this article is not directed at you. However, to those who are treating their vaccine like a magic shield against COVID and going back to their regularly scheduled activities:
Stop it. Right now. You're putting yourself and others at risk.
I know we no longer have an anti-science, hate spewing fascist in the White House and you may feel like things are "back to normal," but the numbers don't lie: things are worse than they were this time last year across the country. Yet my social media feeds are full of friends--as many liberal as conservative--going to ball games, concerts, school dances, parades, pool parties & crowded indoor events without masks as if COVID is over. The same people who bitched about Sturgis are attending Lollapalooza or Burning Man & taking selfies surrounded by hoardes of other maskless people. Meanwhile every hospital in every metro area in the state has 0 beds available. Z E R O.
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| Those aren't carpet fibers, they're people: Lollapalooza 2021 |
Nurses & doctors are pleading with us to knock it off, yet we persist. Biden gave a press conference that some are calling "authoritarian" (LOL) in which he sternly asked doctors to ask their patients to get vaccinated and asked employers to ask their workers to get the jab. Lots of "asking". This hasn't worked so far, why would it work now? Especially when the very people who are most reluctant to get the shot are the same people who abhor the guy giving the speech. It's a Venn diagram of Biden haters & anti-vaxxers that's basically a circle. If anything, his speech is likely to make that crowd dig their heels in harder & avoid the shot out of spite.
...and even if you've gotten your shot, you might be the person who infects an unvaccinated person. Vaccinated people shed LESS virus when infected, not NONE. While it's tempting to say "that's their problem/they should've gotten their shot!" you're really no better than them when you go down that road. Every COVID-positive person who has to be hospitalized contributes to the burden on the healthcare system & society in general. This is why it's vital to do your part & keep masking/distancing whenever possible. We truly are all in this together.
Delta Variant 101
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| COVID comeback explained |
The Delta variant is roughly 60% more infectious than the original COVID strain & evades immune recognition about half the time. The vaccine offers a strong layer of protection against severe infection and death. That's great. But you can still get sick--in worst cases, very sick--which brings with it the risk of long COVID & other issues.
And not all vaccinated groups are in the same boat risk-wise. If you're immune compromised and got the shot, it may not work as well or for as long which means you REALLY need to look into getting another dose ASAP. People older than 65 fall into this "immune suppressed" category as their immune response to vaccines in general is weaker than young people. This is why there's a separate "65 & over" flu shot every year. Those who got their vaccine longer than 8 months ago also should be looking into a booster because immunity has been shown to wane after this amount of time.
And for those with normal immune systems whose shots are still in the "optimal effectiveness range": you're not safe to go maskless or attend crowded events. The Delta variant is so contagious that you're at risk of breakthrough infection if you come in contact with the virus at all. The shot was developed to combat the Wuhan/Alpha strain, which was far less infectious. "Breakthrough infection" doesn't necessarily mean "mild symptoms" either: there have been many reports of people getting quite sick, including Oscar De La Hoya who was sick enough to be hospitalized despite full vaccination. A man in peak physical condition was sick enough to require 3 days of inpatient hospital care. This is not the norm but can happen.
As with the flu & other respiratory viruses, viral load (how much of the virus you inhale or ingest) determines how severe your illness is likely to be if you do get infected. This is why distancing & masking are so important: you inhale fewer viral particles that way. I know it's annoying and inconvenient but there's never been a worse time to be breathing in other people's respiratory droplets. Well-fitting surgical masks filter out larger droplets while N95 & KN95 masks help filter both large and smaller airborne droplets. According to Dr. Osterholm, director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, neck gaiters & bandannas are a poor choice for preventing COVID & we should all upgrade to N95 and KN95 masks now that the healthcare mask shortage is over. Double-masking is also a good option if done correctly.
Government's Failure
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| Biden's "tough" COVID speech |
The fact that states are pushing ahead with in-person learning & there's no federal lockdown while the virus rages & bodies pile up means our leaders are accepting this as the "new normal". The Biden Administration cares no more about our traumatized healthcare workers, stressed out teachers, meatpackers, grocers, unvaccinated children or dying Black & brown populations who suffer disproportionately from COVID than the Trump Administration did. Vaccine mandates are merely a Band-Aid to allow capitalism to push ahead as usual; not to keep the population safe & healthy. To truly do that, we need universal healthcare, paid sick leave, universal basic income during the pandemic & an actual paid lockdown like every other developed nation has had since the beginning if we have ANY chance of getting this under control. We couldn't even get a one-time $2,000 stimulus check that was promised during the Biden campaign.
Make no mistake: COVID is here to stay. The question is, how long will it take for us to turn it into a manageable seasonal illness like influenza & stop it from killing more people unnecessarily while causing more irreversible worker burnout & trauma? We've done the bare minimum so far & continue to do so. The difference is, now that Biden's in office, liberals have gone from outrage to quiet apathy which is the exact opposite of what needs to happen in times of crisis. 700,000+ Americans are DEAD and never coming back. While we memorialize the ~3,000 lives lost on 9/11, we sit by apathetically as the U.S. leads the world in COVID cases and deaths. We have more COVID cases than the slums of India, Brazil, Romania, Haiti, Colombia or any other crowded, impoverished nation on Earth. And all we hear is *crickets* about it from our so-called leaders.
Maybe this will get your attention, libs: Trump is preparing for a 2024 run. And with the less-than-impressive way the Democrat-controlled 3 branches of government have performed with their cast of rotating villains to stop progress at every turn, he has as good a chance of winning as anyone. Maybe better.
America loves a comeback story. (See: COVID).
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