Another great (in the sense of important, not in the sense of good news) article!
Yes, the lack of public health messaging is a crisis. For old folk like me, we remember the campaigns against smoking, to get polio vaccinations done, to encourage seat belt use in cars. The messages have to be loud, clear, and persistent. What we have is, well, silence.
Also, for any risk assessment to be useful (though you're entirely correct in that public health is NOT an individual effort, it's called "public" for a reason) not only do we need to know what the risks of infection are, but also the risk of getting infected. In May of 2023 all data other than wastewater went dark. Wastewater is important, but actual cases and outcomes is also important and is easily gathered.
This situation goes beyond depressing and into anger and despair.
Your writing is a light in the darkness. I have seen some tiny moments of change, a few more masks, and a quote from a covid aware teacher I know: "Other teachers are becoming more nervous about getting covid. They're not doing anything, but they're nervous."
I am an American-born and raised Armenian female, a retired senior and I live alone. I am totally vaxxed, I triple N95 mask whenever I leave my home, wear three pairs of disposable gloves, wear ear plugs, goggles, hat and distance myself as best as I can from others. Because I use a cane for my bad knees, most people realize that I am old and disabled, and usually just smile or laugh at me silently and keep their distance. That's fine. I can live with that. And so far I have not been been infected. But twice over the last five years I have been accosted by young white men who have told me to take off my masks and "breathe the fresh air". So I live in constant fear from not only COVID but other people who might forcibly remove my masks, whether by law or otherwise. I never thought that my "golden" years would be so dangerous and sad. Thanks, Trump, Biden and their puppet masters aka the billionaire class and their corporations for making my life and the lives of others a nightmare, while they vax, test, ventilate, UV, Paxlovid and isolate themselves, and force the majority of us back into the unsafe environments of work and school. And though I will vote for Harris, I expect nothing more from her than I do now from Biden, which is less than nothing. Pathetic.
It's demoralizing that it's not just the political leadership gaslighting us on this stuff - there are still quite a few esteemed research scientists out there singing in the "musta been the lockdowns" choir. I just added an Update to my July 2024 article entitled "Now can we talk about the geopolitical ramifications of brain fog?"
Update: The direct deposit track at PNAS, where elite academy members get to pick their own friends as peer reviewers, has to end. Or at least such publications need to have a public comments section. A recent direct deposit entitled, “COVID-19 lockdown effects on adolescent brain structure suggest accelerated maturation that is more pronounced in females than in males” reads like an RFK conspiracy theory. Proper peer review would have forced the authors to acknowledge the commonly known fact that Covid causes brain damage - as well as the commonly known fact that long Covid disproportionately affects females. Pretending to know that the cause of the observed brain damage among adolescents must have been the lockdowns - when it obviously could have been the virus itself - is delusional.
Thank you for this, Julia. Every post you write hits each nail squarely on the head. I read somewhere recently that long COVID is now officially the most studied disease ever, at just over 400k published studies in under 5 years. That makes the lack of attention by you government and our media even that much more stunning and unacceptable.
I really hope the Long COVID Moonshot bill sponsored by Bernie Sanders gets somewhere. But although there are several prominent Democrats co-sponsors, there are no Republicans yet. I am not holding my breath on this.
It’s not just US leadership. It’s a world problem. I’m in Europe and masks are few & far between. That being said, if the US took the lead, other countries would likely follow.
We expect perfection from our healthcare providers when we are being treated, but are we going to lower our standards because “you know…oops…they aren’t as sharp as there were before 5-6 infections in”? Maybe providers will advertise “I only got Covid twice, so I’m still totally competent to treat you”. Will this decrease in cognitive function be acceptable in other professions & services? “Hey sorry about your financial investments. I’m no longer good at math or decision making after I got Covid 3x”. New disclaimers to everything: “please double check our service for accuracy due to worldwide cognitive decline from Covid. We take no accountability in mistakes because you know…Covid”.
Another great (in the sense of important, not in the sense of good news) article!
Yes, the lack of public health messaging is a crisis. For old folk like me, we remember the campaigns against smoking, to get polio vaccinations done, to encourage seat belt use in cars. The messages have to be loud, clear, and persistent. What we have is, well, silence.
Also, for any risk assessment to be useful (though you're entirely correct in that public health is NOT an individual effort, it's called "public" for a reason) not only do we need to know what the risks of infection are, but also the risk of getting infected. In May of 2023 all data other than wastewater went dark. Wastewater is important, but actual cases and outcomes is also important and is easily gathered.
This situation goes beyond depressing and into anger and despair.
Your writing is a light in the darkness. I have seen some tiny moments of change, a few more masks, and a quote from a covid aware teacher I know: "Other teachers are becoming more nervous about getting covid. They're not doing anything, but they're nervous."
Excellent article as always. I don't consent to infection. I'll be wearing my head strap N99 respirator mask for as long as this goes on for.
I am an American-born and raised Armenian female, a retired senior and I live alone. I am totally vaxxed, I triple N95 mask whenever I leave my home, wear three pairs of disposable gloves, wear ear plugs, goggles, hat and distance myself as best as I can from others. Because I use a cane for my bad knees, most people realize that I am old and disabled, and usually just smile or laugh at me silently and keep their distance. That's fine. I can live with that. And so far I have not been been infected. But twice over the last five years I have been accosted by young white men who have told me to take off my masks and "breathe the fresh air". So I live in constant fear from not only COVID but other people who might forcibly remove my masks, whether by law or otherwise. I never thought that my "golden" years would be so dangerous and sad. Thanks, Trump, Biden and their puppet masters aka the billionaire class and their corporations for making my life and the lives of others a nightmare, while they vax, test, ventilate, UV, Paxlovid and isolate themselves, and force the majority of us back into the unsafe environments of work and school. And though I will vote for Harris, I expect nothing more from her than I do now from Biden, which is less than nothing. Pathetic.
It's demoralizing that it's not just the political leadership gaslighting us on this stuff - there are still quite a few esteemed research scientists out there singing in the "musta been the lockdowns" choir. I just added an Update to my July 2024 article entitled "Now can we talk about the geopolitical ramifications of brain fog?"
Update: The direct deposit track at PNAS, where elite academy members get to pick their own friends as peer reviewers, has to end. Or at least such publications need to have a public comments section. A recent direct deposit entitled, “COVID-19 lockdown effects on adolescent brain structure suggest accelerated maturation that is more pronounced in females than in males” reads like an RFK conspiracy theory. Proper peer review would have forced the authors to acknowledge the commonly known fact that Covid causes brain damage - as well as the commonly known fact that long Covid disproportionately affects females. Pretending to know that the cause of the observed brain damage among adolescents must have been the lockdowns - when it obviously could have been the virus itself - is delusional.
https://cbuck.substack.com/p/now-can-we-talk-about-the-geopolitical
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2403200121
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkJvlLAuJcE&t=23s
https://archive.ph/2P3V5
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=does+long+covid+disproportionately+affect+females
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10717295/
Thank you for this, Julia. Every post you write hits each nail squarely on the head. I read somewhere recently that long COVID is now officially the most studied disease ever, at just over 400k published studies in under 5 years. That makes the lack of attention by you government and our media even that much more stunning and unacceptable.
I really hope the Long COVID Moonshot bill sponsored by Bernie Sanders gets somewhere. But although there are several prominent Democrats co-sponsors, there are no Republicans yet. I am not holding my breath on this.
It’s not just US leadership. It’s a world problem. I’m in Europe and masks are few & far between. That being said, if the US took the lead, other countries would likely follow.
We expect perfection from our healthcare providers when we are being treated, but are we going to lower our standards because “you know…oops…they aren’t as sharp as there were before 5-6 infections in”? Maybe providers will advertise “I only got Covid twice, so I’m still totally competent to treat you”. Will this decrease in cognitive function be acceptable in other professions & services? “Hey sorry about your financial investments. I’m no longer good at math or decision making after I got Covid 3x”. New disclaimers to everything: “please double check our service for accuracy due to worldwide cognitive decline from Covid. We take no accountability in mistakes because you know…Covid”.
Great stuff Julia. It is so amazing that are leaders can just endlessly lie about the pandemic and get away with it!