This is not the time to soften the message!
I was disappointed in a recent interview I saw with Dr. Fauci as well as comments I heard in an interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Both have been staunch advocates for mask wearing, distancing and vaccination during the pandemic.
Both were asked about mask wearing and social distancing needs after vaccination. Although they both did say that despite vaccination, we need to continue to be very careful, they both fell short of how adamant they were about protection in certain situations. The very rapid loosening of restrictions on things like dining and gyms is also concerning to me. I have been in some restaurants and left because there was no way they were following the rules.
The problem with humans is that if you give them an inch, they take a foot. They try to get away with whatever they can. It’s our nature.
I get it. I hate the masks. I hate everything about this pandemic. However, we need to continue to be vigilant, get vaccinated, and then CONTINUE to be vigilant.
Are there situations where we could loosen up a bit? Sure. There always have been. If you’re outdoors or in a small group of known, careful people, you can let your guard down a bit. However vaccination is no hall pass. Vaccination is not a barrier. You can still catch Covid-19 and more concerning, you can pass it on to others, especially with the new, more aggressive strains which will soon become the dominant ones.
Let’s be clear. If you were sick, there MAY be some protection for a few months. If you were REALLY sick and hospitalized, maybe for 6 months. With mild disease, maybe only just a few. THAT’S IT. I’ve heard many patients and friends make comments indicating their comfort with less protection since “my kid was sick last summer” or something like that. If you were sick last summer, you have just about no protection any more. Or at least, you should assume that.
The same goes for vaccination. NO HALL PASS. I suspect that by the time everyone in the US is vaccinated, it will be time for the first recipients to get a booster. It is quite possible, and even likely, that Covid-19 will turn into the next Flu. Yearly resurgence of a variant which will need an annual vaccination.
It’s tough to think about but we need to accept what is going on and move on. We need to figure out how to live in a world where these types of pandemics will be the norm and, if by chance it doesn’t happen, great. If nothing else, it makes us appreciate what we have already. And even as bad as it is, life ain’t so bad, as long as you are careful. I do think there is an excessive amount of paranoia out there, which is also not healthy. There must be a happy medium, and eventually, we will get there.
So PLEASE be careful, have an appropriate amount of paranoia and keep looking out for everyone else.
I’ll skip the drill for today. You know what to do.
Stay Safe and Be Well.
AC