I was sitting among strangers, fellow Elite Yelpers, about two weeks ago, at an outdoor dinner event and pondered if these events would survive this winter season. Omicron, a new variant out of South Africa and detected in Europe, has been making headlines in recent days. Even before this new variant entered the picture, we were facing a harsh holiday season. Parts of Europe imposed restrictions again due to the high rise in COVID cases. Increases in breakthrough cases were alarming before the surface of Omicron. Wall Street Journal found that more than 1.89 million cases with at least 72,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths occurred among fully vaccinated people in the U.S. this year so far. With less than 60% of the population fully vaccinated in the U.S., as of November 24, the CDC is forecasting a hike in deaths by mid-December. Will we ever be safe?
It has been almost a year since the vaccines first became available to adults here. Now, children five years and older are eligible for vaccination. Federal, state, and local government mandates on vaccines have pushed some of those reluctant on vaccination to be vaccinated for their jobs. Vaccination boosters are now available. It is about time that we change our message about COVID away from reaching herd immunity to living with the virus.
We should talk about how to live with the virus... Boosters for those who were vaccinated early on and its efficacy wearing off. Sending vaccines to countries where its citizens are lining up but without enough doses. Focusing on developing boosters that include immunity for new strains of COVID. Reiterating wearing masks even if vaccinated while indoors and even in high traffic outdoors. Sanitizing our hands and our surroundings. Social distancing with those who are vulnerable and not vaccinated. These aren't invasive to our lives. These aren't lifestyle changes. These are just a few additions to keep us alive. A small price to pay to live and have a life.
It sounds cold, but we have to chance the deaths of those who have chosen not to be vaccinated because that is what they chose. Be it political, religious, conspiracy, anti-vaccination, or even medical, we will greatly pay in the next Presidential election as people are forced to get vaccinated or their lives dwarfed by it. Can we survive Trump or the likes of Trump in the White House again?
We need to accept this nation's political polarization will not let us reach herd immunity, a 90% full vaccination rate according to medical experts. While I do wish more are vaccinated, I don't get upset when they are not. I simply ask if they had weighed the possible consequences of not getting vaccinated, including death. You want to argue with a person who is willing to risk their own death about how COVID kills? How do you talk about the welfare of others, the greater good, when they are okay with the possibility of their own death?
Vaccination was not an easy decision for me. A batch of childhood vaccinations resulted in surgery to remove a growth in my right arm. While I suffer from massive allergy attacks, I can't even take Claritin without suffering a handful of side effects that will keep me in bed. My last doctor, during the pandemic, had a near panic attack when she realized that a simple biopsy procedure caused an odd side effect on my blood cells.
So, I knew that I would experience side effects from any COVID vaccine, odd and unusual ones, and it may take months or even years to fully recover from them. I weighed the consequences. I would more likely die from COVID than the vaccines, so I took my chance with Johnson & Johnson's Jansen for it solely being a single shot.
Just as I weighed the consequences and made a decision that best suited me, I expect the same has been done by those who chose not to be vaccinated. Sometimes, we need to acknowledge that a different choice from ours doesn't mean that it is a thoughtless decision and accept that we cannot save everyone. Another stay-at-home restriction will be detrimental to the economy, individual mental and physical health, and the already strained political extremism of this nation. Life must go on with the virus... And how life goes and for how long will depend on our individual actions from what we have observed and learned. To quote Charles Darwin, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."
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