Exit Ramp from Covidland?
March 11, 2021
After a year of worrying and waiting and fighting with each other over masks and social distancing could we be seeing the end of Covidland?
The new case numbers are down and people are getting vaccinated. (I received my first vaccination just recently.) The Biden administration is telling us that there's going to be a lot more access to vaccines in the next few weeks and months.
However we're seeing an uptick in variants of Covid-19, our current vaccines may not cover these variants and some of them are much more contagious than the previous strains. A year into this pandemic and still people aren't wearing masks and aren't socially distanced. States are not taking this seriously, they are not closing down businesses and they are encouraging large gatherings. Yes, the new case numbers are down, but the numbers are down to the peaks we saw last year. They are certainly not at zero.
Typhoid Mary was spreading Typhoid Fever in 1900, yet today over 100,000 people a year die of the disease. Will Covid-19 be this way?
Companies are working on vaccines for the variants. If you get the two shot Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, you might be looking at a third shot before the end of the year. We still don't know how long the vaccines will protect us from Covid-19. We could be looking at yearly, if not seasonal, boosters.
Are we at the end or just the middle? I guess time will tell. I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The vaccines are coming apace, Biden is making bold vaccination targets and then surpassing them. The vaccine manufacturers aren't just playing catch-up, they're looking at the long game. The loudest anti-mask, anti-vax people are still a minority, and, let's be honest, a lot of them are going to get sick and some are going to die. Maybe more minds will change.
When we get to “Normal” it will be a New Normal, this is clear. Masking up in the US, as with countries in Asia, is not going away. We are seeing evidence that measures meant to protect us from Covid-19 are also protecting us from the flu. I have a feeling I will be wearing a mask to grocery shop and possibly to other group activities for the foreseeable future, especially during flu season. Not just to protect myself, but to keep from spreading flu around. (I've got the masks, might as well use them.) I also think, again for the foreseeable future, I'm going to be leery of social gatherings, unless I know people's vaccination status. Bars might be out for awhile. I don't drink much, but I do miss the social aspects. We'll see.
Once I am fully vaccinated and the shots have had time to take effect, about mid-April, I hope to return to a more active schedule for this blog and for the vlog. Several ideas I have percolating will be viable once again. It's been a long time coming, I'm glad it's almost past.