You write “Avoiding the eventual exposure of vulnerable people, by the way, was the explicit purpose of lockdowns… Instead they’re being exposed each time they leave home.”
But many of us are also exposed AT home ( or in congregate living settings or institutions) - by school-age children, by family members or roommates who can’t or won’t mask, by nursing home staff and prison guards, etc. And/or in the halls, elevators, etc of apartment complexes.
The idea of home as a safe sanctum has been another fallacy of the pandemic, based on professional and wealthy class options of stable, non-intergenerational housing with private entry ways etc.
Really great essay! As an engineer, numbers are meaningful to me. I often use the polio example when people talk about SARS-2 survival rates being over 99% . 99.5% of polio infections are either asymptomatic or mild stomach upset. 99.75% are fine after a year even if they have neurological involvement and fatalities are even more rare. We - rightfully - waged a campaign against the disease, as an old person I remember the March of Dimes and other public health messages around polio.
It's bizarre to have people yelling that the pandemic isn't important due to their personal impressions. This is due to a failure of public health messaging. The campaigns against tobacco use, seat belts, childhood vaccinations, and others included significant messaging about the importance of the issue.
After reading this, I realized that the one thing both parties in this country have in common is Covid denial. Neither side will mention it or do anything about it. They've gone completely YOYO, you're on your own. I am so baffled by the situation.
Anyway,thanks for this remarkable piece! The numbers you cite -- holy cow! And nothing in the media. Like it's not even happening. Again, I'm baffled...it's like living in an alternate reality. This is truly frightening.
We shouldn't be surprised at low vaccine uptake, as:
They don't do much to prevent infection.
They don't do much to prevent Long Covid.
Also, as Julia put it: "Why would you get vaccinated for a disease that’s mild and over?"
Where are we going?
The more the virus evolves, the more it will evade our immune systems' responses. It can only go it that direction. Secondly, the more the virus evolves, the more infectious it becomes. It can only go it that direction.
The law of natural selection ensures that this virus becomes both more infectious and more immune evasive. This is obviously a dangerous direction to go in.
Thanks for these truths. One additional point:
You write “Avoiding the eventual exposure of vulnerable people, by the way, was the explicit purpose of lockdowns… Instead they’re being exposed each time they leave home.”
But many of us are also exposed AT home ( or in congregate living settings or institutions) - by school-age children, by family members or roommates who can’t or won’t mask, by nursing home staff and prison guards, etc. And/or in the halls, elevators, etc of apartment complexes.
The idea of home as a safe sanctum has been another fallacy of the pandemic, based on professional and wealthy class options of stable, non-intergenerational housing with private entry ways etc.
Really great essay! As an engineer, numbers are meaningful to me. I often use the polio example when people talk about SARS-2 survival rates being over 99% . 99.5% of polio infections are either asymptomatic or mild stomach upset. 99.75% are fine after a year even if they have neurological involvement and fatalities are even more rare. We - rightfully - waged a campaign against the disease, as an old person I remember the March of Dimes and other public health messages around polio.
It's bizarre to have people yelling that the pandemic isn't important due to their personal impressions. This is due to a failure of public health messaging. The campaigns against tobacco use, seat belts, childhood vaccinations, and others included significant messaging about the importance of the issue.
We need the same for SARS-2.
After reading this, I realized that the one thing both parties in this country have in common is Covid denial. Neither side will mention it or do anything about it. They've gone completely YOYO, you're on your own. I am so baffled by the situation.
Anyway,thanks for this remarkable piece! The numbers you cite -- holy cow! And nothing in the media. Like it's not even happening. Again, I'm baffled...it's like living in an alternate reality. This is truly frightening.
We shouldn't be surprised at low vaccine uptake, as:
They don't do much to prevent infection.
They don't do much to prevent Long Covid.
Also, as Julia put it: "Why would you get vaccinated for a disease that’s mild and over?"
Where are we going?
The more the virus evolves, the more it will evade our immune systems' responses. It can only go it that direction. Secondly, the more the virus evolves, the more infectious it becomes. It can only go it that direction.
The law of natural selection ensures that this virus becomes both more infectious and more immune evasive. This is obviously a dangerous direction to go in.