Living with COVID. Respect the Virus, but Don’t Fear It

Virtually everyone seems to have his or her own opinion with respect to how to live with COVID. Take the vaccines; don’t take the vaccines. Get “boosted.” Don’t get “boosted.” Wear a mask; don’t wear a mask. Isolate yourself from family, friends and social activities, or not. The following is strictly my opinion unless stated otherwise. Please feel free to agree or disagree , but unless I fell into a time warp last night and woke up this morning in Soviet Russia circa 1930 we all still have the right, as Americans living in a free society, t express our opinion. To paraphrase the late singer, Lesley Gore, this is my blog, and I can write what I want to.

We have been living with COVID for the past two years or so, and it has shown no signs of going away. Instead, it has done what viruses do, namely mutate. Already, we have experienced several mutations. Some, like the D strain have been deadly. Others, like Omicron, have been more highly transmissible, but so far have been milder.

COVID cases have been accelerating, and the consensus among medical professionals is that the trend will continue into 2022, if not accelerate further. Citing data culled from the CDC and Johns Hopkins University CNN has reported that yesterday the US hit a seven-day average of in excess of 265,000 new COVID cases, which was considerably more than the previous record of 252,000. CNN medical analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner opines that we could easily hit half a million cases per day as soon as next week. According to the CDC hospitalizations of children averaged approximately 300 per day for the week ended December 26. New York City was particularly hard-hit. Cases and positive test rates have been surging, and pediatric hospitalizations there increased five-fold of the recent three-week period.

Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health predicted that fully vaccinated and boosted vaccinated individuals will generally not get as sick as nonvaccinated ones, which has normally been the case. For some reason, CNN reports that only one-third of fully vaccinated persons have been boosted. According to Worldometer the overall average fatality rate is approximately 1 1/2%

In my view, this virus will be with us, in some form, for a long, long time, if not permanently. It will continue to mutate periodically. We’d best get used to that fact and learn to live with it. We all have choices to make. We can either cower in fear or we can “strap on our big-boy pants” and live our lives as best we can.

We can either get fully vaxed and boosted or not. I believe that decision is a personal choice. According to the scientific data I have seen those who have done so are safer than those who haven’t. They are less likely to contract the virus, and when they do they generally get a milder case and are less likely to require hospitalization and die from it. That said, I recognize that some people have medical, religious and/or personal concerns about getting vaccinated and choose not to do so, and I respect that.

Those of us who are vaxed and boosted should respect that choice and not vilify those who have chosen not to do so for whatever reason. As I said, they have made their personal choice for whatever reason(s). On the other hand, those who have not should not expect the rest of us to suffer through the arbitrary and draconian mandates that our political leaders have foisted upon us to protect them. I could recap them, but I won’t waste your time and mine. They’ve been all over the news for two years, and most of you are cognizant of them. These measures have not only infringed on our personal liberties, they have also had a deleterious effect on our livelihoods. Many people have lost their businesses and their jobs, calamities from which they probably will never recover.

They keep telling us that these mandates are necessary to protect us. Perhaps, that is true in some cases, but their primary purpose is to exert political, economic and social power over our lives. Why do I say that? Simple. As I have pointed out in previous blogs and you have seen in the news there have been many instances of those in power ignoring their own mandates. Their credo has been “rules for thee, but not for me.” Furthermore, the Administration continues to support an open southern border policy, which permits illegal migrants who may or may not have been vaxed and may or may not be sick, to cross with impunity. Once they’re here they have been scattered all over the country spreading the disease. That is the most inane policy I have ever seen and makes absolutely no sense, except for political gain.

Don’t listen to the bloviating talking heads on tv. Most of them do not know any more than you. Many of them know less. Events have proven them wrong much of the time. In particular, take anything you hear from “Lord” Fauci with a grain of salt, a big grain of salt if there is such a thing. Despite his impressive credentials he had been proven wrong much of the time, and I believe he has a personal political agenda. If you need guidance and advice consult with your personal physician who would be most familiar with your situation and in the best position to advise you.

CONCLUSION

As I said above, I am convinced that COVID will remain part of our lives for a long, long time, if not permanently. In many respects, it will be like the flu. There will be a new strain periodically that will require another booster. The overwhelming majority of us will get sick occasionally, some more seriously than others, but few of us will die. Most of those who do die will have underlying medical or health issues. Like the flu, we will have the choice to get “vaxed” or not. There is no reason to live in irrational fear and “hide under your bed,” so to speak.

With respect to social gatherings such as New Years Eve celebrations “Lord” Fauci has decreed that “small gatherings of fully vaccinated people will be safe, but people should avoid large parties where they don’t know the vaccination status of all guests.” That makes sense to me.

Furthermore, medical professionals have been cautioning that not all masks provide equal protection. Make-shift masks, such as kerchiefs, provide limited protection and actually can be detrimental as they provide a false sense of security; surgical masks are better; but the best and safest are the N95 or KF94 masks.

So, in summary, I recommend that you try to live your life but safely and prudently. Respect COVID, but don’t fear it. At this point, we know how to recognize it and how to treat it.

Finally, remember, although we have different opinions on many issues at the end of the day we are all Americans. Don’t let this issue, or any issue for that matter, divide us.