COVID Vent

Can I just vent here for a second?  Sometimes it's better for me to vent here than to get tempted to do it on social media where people can see it and argue.  I really just sort of need to talk myself through something because it's bugging me.  Also, in the interest of further documenting how crazy and bizarre this entire experience is, much like I did early on in the pandemic, I want to leave this here as a reminder years down the road what absurdities we dealt with.

Rant: I am SO. FREAKING. TIRED. of people who are resistant to masks.  Resistant to any COVID precautions really, but masks especially.  Masks are so easy, generally non-invasive, and are really the best ammunition we have to keep a nasty evolving virus at bay when a portion of the population has no interest in more invasive measures.  

Yes, a year ago the vaccine seemed like our savior, and as vaccination numbers climbed, cases declined.  They even continued to decline once most restrictions were lifted and we were free to gather and unmask.  It probably helped that better weather had arrived, mind you, but for a solid couple months, cases were so low that even schools were finally able to be fully reopened at full capacity for the first time in over a year.  But even then, the most successful school reopenings involved masking.  The vaccine was working for eligible groups and masks didn't seem as important as long as you had your vaccine, as vaccinated people had a significantly smaller risk of both catching it and transmitting it, especially when asymptomatic.

But then delta hit and everything changed.  With delta, transmission was easier.  The vaccine only fought off so much, and it became easier for vaccinated people to catch and transmit.  Still, the vaccine was useful in keeping the risk down for severe illness, which not only helps the person who has it, but also the hospitals that are struggling with capacity issues.  Now, the new omicron variant makes these problems even bigger, as it can evade the vaccine even better and is even more transmissible, even if its cases aren't as severe.  Which brings me back to the masks.

If the vaccine isn't doing what it was expected to do--or at least what it once did--if we do nothing, we risk exponential spread again.  Many areas are quite close to that, probably with only the vaccine's modest effectiveness keeping things from exploding further.  I understand they can't stop pushing vaccines, because they do keep people out of the hospitals and save (most) lives, but if they're not getting the job done, we need another option.  It's either masks or (God forbid) another shutdown, and I for one am happy to wear a mask to avoid a shutdown.  I want my kids in school, I want stores and services open, I want fun things to do in our spare time, and I will gladly use a mask if it helps keep those things available.  Maybe the bulk of the spread isn't happening in a lot of those places, but it sure can't hurt to have one less venue for it to move from group to group.  If people want to gather and risk illness, that's their choice--we all have our mental health needs and I'm not necessarily going to judge people for that because we've done it, too.  However, I'd prefer that their risky decision not get passed to me as I stand next to them trying to buy food for my family or watch my child play basketball, just because they don't yet know they're sick and choose not to take further precautions.  My mask might give me some protection from them, but it works best when they have theirs on too.

As of Monday there is now a mask mandate in New York State.  All indoor venues, excluding those that only allow vaccinated individuals, need to have masking.  That means stores, churches, schools, gyms, and almost everything except your own home have some sort of requirement.  I honestly have no issue with it, and I actually wish they didn't even have the vaccination exemption, because it's clear vaccinated people can catch and spread it more readily now.  Even though asymptomatic spread may be less common, it's clearly an issue--which we learned all too well from our Thanksgiving dinner.  And some people just think they have a cold or allergies and--even worse--want to pretend this isn't a thing, so they go about their lives without a test or any precautions.

So many people are at different stages of vaccination anyway, from fully vaccinated and boosted, to two shots, to one J&J, to kids who only have one shot or aren't booster-eligible yet.  As a result, the "fully vaccinated" definition is a bit fuzzy now since so many people's initial resistance is fading, and if they haven't boosted they're probably at a similar risk level as they were prior to getting the shot.  And then there's the people who can't get the vaccine, and a whole slew that won't get the vaccine and refuse to mask up even when requested.  So, to me, the only way to have any level of consistent protection is to have everyone mask up and at least TRY to block aerosols from making it out in the world.  No, masks aren't completely effective, but they have to block something, and every bit that they block is that much less that can cause problems for someone else.  And for little kids and especially the immune-compromised, every bit helps.  

But there are many people, and entire counties now, who will not abide by the state mandate.  People are obviously just over it and trumpeting their "freedoms", and counties insist they don't have the manpower to enforce it.  The problem in my mind is that--whether they admit it or not--many people subconsciously take their lead from how the government regulates things.  Obviously there will always be the rebels, and lately it's in fashion for there to be groups that fight literally everything a governing body puts out there, but historically people didn't get serious about seatbelts or eliminating indoor smoking until the government started making rules to encourage people's safety.  In a natural disaster, people wait for leaders to speak and explain next steps for recovery and supplies, and in other crises, the government sets the tone for how we as a country move forward.  For generations, when the government bothered to elevate something, people have been more likely to take notice and take action.  But the second the governing bodies stop backing something, I think for a lot of people it signals that it's just not that important.  We saw what happened when even one side of the political aisle simply downplayed COVID, and we're still dealing with those repercussions.  I understand that most cases are happening in homes at private gatherings, and that's a problem.  Short of going house to house to enforce it, which is clearly overreach, the government has to manage what they can access, and right now that's public places.  If people don't regulate themselves at home, it forces their hand publicly.  If they don't act, hospitals will definitely be overrun and wonder why they're not getting support from any part of the community, because if the government won't take the lead, who will?

These stupid variants are changing things by the day, and yet people refuse to operate in the present.  When it was just the original strain, the vaccine was enough most of the time.  That was not some grand lie.  Statistics back it up.  Now it's not enough.  And that's not because the vaccine is faulty--it did work--it's because ongoing infections (which at the time were almost entirely courtesy of the unvaccinated) allowed the virus to mutate to something almost unrecognizable to the vaccine.  Now COVID's vaccine response more like the flu, in the way that the vaccine isn't going to block all cases.  It's not like measles or polio that are nearly a sure defense and allowed for herd immunity.  This is like the flu vaccine that blocks certain strains for most people and gives you a better chance of mild symptoms if a different strain pokes through.  Obviously there was hope initially that the COVID vaccine would block everything, but the variants changed that.  And that's why there may be a series of boosters (which opponents delightedly joke will be never-ending), because not only is this still rapidly evolving, but it doesn't really take a seasonal break like the flu does, so annual boosters like we do now for the flu may not cut it.  If the flu spread like crazy year-round and created new strains all along, we'd probably need a booster six months later for that, too.  Luckily for us, it takes a break in the summer so we don't.  COVID is different.

I'll admit I'm frustrated by the current vaccine mandates in light of the vaccine's clear deficiencies right now.  We just sent away a ton of much-needed medical workers because of it, and I think the way the mandates are being handed down just creates more stubbornness than anything else.  In theory I do believe people should be able to make health decisions for themselves, in a way that doesn't threaten their job or ability to attend school, but maybe the line gets drawn when their decision can impact other people, because every prevention method works best when both parties take part.  Under normal circumstances, with time-tested vaccines, I do get frustrated with those who avoid them.  I understand currently why people are hesitant, as this is a new one without years of success behind it.  However, there is overwhelming evidence that they work with only tiny risks of side effects, so I'm most frustrated with all of the misinformation out there and wish that was never able to happen so more people were willing to do it on their own.  But the mandates now just create more resistance and anger, and have made already short-staffed medical facilities even more short-staffed, putting more pressure on already-exhausted workers.  I understand how those in power need to maintain certain narratives to insist the vaccine is important, because it is the only thing keeping most hospitals from being overrun right now, and I know they hope these mandates will convince people to do it.  However, I honestly think the only thing that will convince them at this stage, a year into vaccination, is people seeing their loved ones sick and dying, and deciding they will take every possible step to not have the same thing happen to them.  Even that's not enough for some people, as they insist they are healthy and they'd prefer their immune system get natural immunity.  That's all well and good...until it's not.  So many people have found out the hard way that their body wasn't as prepared as they thought it was.

I think one of the hardest things about this pandemic has been what seems like a constant barrage of potential life and death decisions.  Do you get the vaccine?  Should your children get the vaccine?  Do you take that trip?  Do you send your child to school or go to work in an office?  Do you skip the mask while gathering with friends and family?  Do you get that medical procedure or have that baby while COVID is actively spreading?  There are so many concerns with being out in the world, and yet so many mental health repercussions to limiting yourself, which is why so much of it comes back to the stupid mask.  Wear the mask and 95% of activities are considerably safer, barring those involving eating.  So if we don't want a shutdown and we want the rest of our freedoms intact, just put on the stupid mask and help others who might need that extra layer of protection.  Why any person thinks a politician would choose a mask mandate as the ideal way to "control" their constituents, I just don't know.  People wearing a mask only helps to protect others and keep numbers in check; there's no logical reason why seeing masked constituents should give them some sort of smug satisfaction or feeling of power.  It's just not logical that it's merely about control.  It's simply demonstrating that it should be a priority and maybe make people think twice when they gather privately about whether masking should be considered.  If politicians hold a responsibility to keep numbers in check, it's the easiest way to do so.  What is the alternative?  Let everyone just run amok openly spreading it?  At this stage every bit helps, even if public masking is only a small piece. 

I'm just so confused how people still deny COVID's a thing (I saw at least a couple comments yesterday of people calling an outbreak at Cornell a bunch of "false positives") and seem completely fine with taking the risk that they'll get it.  Yes, at best they'll have few to zero symptoms.  But what if they pass it to someone else who doesn't?  Do they like the idea of feeling like garbage for a week or two and needing to isolate from loved ones, especially around the holidays?  Or at worst, are they okay with dying and leaving loved ones behind?  Maybe to them it seems like a lot of effort for small risk, but this has caught more than a few people by surprise.  Wearing a mask seems like such a small task, a little bit of goodwill to protect others (and maybe yourself).  I know they can be uncomfortable and some people now see them as a symbol of tyranny, but medical professionals have worn them for decades and I doubt they'd want their next major surgery done without one.  So why is it so darn difficult to just deal?  

I understand that this seems like it will never end.  I know that this all started with two weeks to flatten the curve and has turned into two years of upheaval, but we had little idea at the time (thanks to China keeping things quiet) that this could be as deadly as it is for people of all ages, that it could cause long-term medical issues for those who survive it, and that it would end up to be so far-reaching.  The whole world is struggling with this, it's not just some American construct to keep us under someone's thumb.  Many things have been mishandled, but everyone is sort of learning as we go and some decisions have been more logical and long-lasting than others.  People play into the slippery slope fallacy that just because one thing happens to help control the spread, a bunch of others will happen and we'll be prisoners in our own homes forever, and as a result they're resisting the exact, rather minimally hard things that could make this end, or at least make it a little more livable.  It's so stinking frustrating, and even sadder as we hear the stories and even as I watch via Facebook someone that I once knew on the verge of death from something that's supposed to be "no big deal".  I'm disheartened and worried about Christmas once again, and yet half the world just doesn't have an interest in helping this go away because their own freedom is more important.  Sigh.  So much for peace and goodwill toward men.