Although we don’t need to sanitize ourselves, our food or mail into oblivion again, the prevailing sentiment of nonchalance is going to get us into trouble.
Again we may be done with Covid, but Covid is not done with us.
All over Europe and the far East, Omicron, particularly the BA-2 subvariant, is wreaking havoc as numbers of new cases climb to levels not seen before in the last 2 years of this pandemic. Fortunately, the severity of disease caused by this variant is less than the previous versions of this virus. This, along with the significantly greater vaccination rate in these places, has resulted in proportionately fewer hospitalizations and deaths. In fact, in South Korea, held up as the model country when it came to managing Covid in the early months of the pandemic, their present rates are amongst the highest in the world, yet their death rate is 2.5x less than what we are seeing in the US, even now with our relatively low rates of disease. Add to that the fact that they have 10x fewer ICU beds per capita along with our pretty sophisticated acute care capabilities, and the comparison of death rates is pretty striking.
Why are they still doing so well? VACCINATION! Overall, more than 75% of their population and 90% of their eldely population is fully vaccinated. In the US, as of last week, we remain stagnant at 66% “fully” vaccinated and only 29% boosted. I would argue that what that really means, is that only about 1/3rd of our population is actually properly, fully vaccinated since adding the third dose, AKA “booster”, has been shown to make a significant difference in protection as antibody levels wane.
Our numbers will certainly go up. They have with every previous wave. That, along with poor vaccination rates and loosened masking and vaccine requirements, makes for a very concerning spring. Even though the BA-2 variant may be more mild, it’s all about the numbers. A small percentage of a big number, is still a big number. People will get sick and many more will die. We are on the cusp of 1 million deaths in the US. despite only representing 4% of the world’s population, we still have 17% of all the deaths as well as the positive cases.
Getting back to Windexing our bananas, studies show that the BA-s variant lives for 2-3x longer on surfaces than previous variants. As long as 4 days on clothing and 10 on solid surfaces. Now, getting sick from this mode of contact is significantly less than through exposure to contaminated air, it is still noteworthy. The virus is heartier and harder to kill.
Please do your best to continue to be safe for your sakes, as well that of your family, friends and neighbors.
VACCINATE! It is effective. It is safe. And it is your best defense.
MASK UP. Wear a good one and wear it properly. I am against mask mandates if they are not specific or enforced. Wearing a “face covering” like a gator or chintzy mask, or wearing it under your nose, is useless. Although it does tell me that you are someone who likely engages in risky behavior so I will be more careful around you. So maybe they are not so useless.
DISTANCE appropriately.
PRACTICE PROPER HYGIENE.
GET HEALTHY.
PRAY FOR UKRAINE.
🇺🇦 Слава Україні 🌻🇺🇦
🇺🇦 Героїм Слава 👊🇺🇦
Stay safe and be well.
AC