Last Sunday, we sat in the shade with cold drinks while the laundry was drying in the sun. Today, I put on the water- and windproof gear to cycle my 10 km along the river dodging showers. Feels like October. All along the cycle path, the candidates for the upcoming national election - four more weeks to go - were beaming at me from their hoardings. Do election posters really serve a purpose or is it just me who finds them silly.
So, hands up who still has the hope that if we grit our teeth and sit at home, we will eventually return to normal life, and that somehow, it would all be over? Ha!
By now, we should have figured out that this pandemic, any pandemic, behaves according to its own, not always comprehensible logic. I think, we still see humans somewhere at the top of the pyramid looking down at this obnoxious little virus. People, we must understand that this is not a normal disease that affects some and not others. Could be that we'll be dealing with mutants and recurrent infections for years.
And yet, there are some who are convinced that by September 5th, or 15th at the latest, all vaccinated people will be dead. They even made posters and hung them next to the ones of the election candidates. Imagine spending money on stuff like that.
Don't sprout the idea that we somehow can live with the virus, that it will become, or already is, endemic, like flu. Wishfully thinking that the word endemic implies a mild disease with low case levels. The term endemicity means that a disease has a constant baseline level, not that it's mild or somewhere in the background. The virus has already shown, several times in just one year, that it can and will evolve to be more transmissible, and partly vaccine resistant. Let's not be so foolish and think it'll not happen again. And again.
Remember, humans have been living with malaria since prehistoric times, and it remains a deadly disease that infects hundreds of thousands of people every year.
As for the hope that humans will adapt to the virus, bear in mind that we are talking about a survival of the fittest with a lot of death among the vulnerable.
The way out, as far as I understand it, is that we manage Covid like we manage measles, which most countries have successfully eliminated through a combination of a population vaccination program and proper public health systems.
That makes sense -- I think we WILL manage it as we've managed other illnesses. It will always be with us, with varying degrees of transmissibility and severity, and we'll continually adapt vaccines and treatments to address it. But meanwhile, yes, people will die.
ReplyDeleteIt's feeling very autumnal here too. As for election posters, if you're a candidate, just getting people to recognize your name when they enter the voting booth is a HUGE step. They seem silly and wasteful, but name recognition makes a difference!
I keep thinking we're just in the beginning of this disease in terms of our knowledge and its mutations and transmission. So much more to learn. It's not an easy time, but we wait and see how it all unfolds.
ReplyDeleteIt is starting to feeling autumnal here as well. It's the way the light changes. The darkness coming earlier and the morning light later. I love autumnal equinox. It's my favorite time of the year.
I love that you took a nice long bike ride. We're still going out for our walks. Beauty where we can find it.
I have been thinking about how it was when the polio and smallpox vaccines came out. There was no need for mandates. People desperately wanted the vaccines, especially for their children. And here in Florida, people are fighting to prevent even mask mandates in school. It's absolutely unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteWish it felt like fall here but no, it feels like hurricane season.
As a friend said yesterday in connection with the death of her spouse and a celebration of his life in the form of a website and a fundraiser for young music students, "My sorrow today is as deep as my joy."
ReplyDeleteDon't know how I would survive without music and the beauty of the natural world.
https://www.raydowneymusic.com/
I can see you riding your bike by your beautiful river under a sky that look like our sky here now that the smoke is gone.
the planet has decided to rid itself of some of the lice crawling around on the surface, winnowing out the dumb ones dragging us down. unbelievable how many refuse to accept the facts about this virus, to their peril I suppose, while they throw tantrums and accuse the rest of us of living in fear.
ReplyDeleteif we have to rely on human behavior to manage covid, it appears we're quite f*cked.
ReplyDeletethe apples, however, look celebratory in their corner of sun, or are they peaches?
ReplyDeletePeaches, lots of peaches. The apples are poor this year, too wet.
DeleteNo signs of fall here yet in Southern Calif. Still very much a very hot summer. It continues to be crazy here with the naysayers to coping with this virus. There is a new normal, I think, and we better learn to adapt.
ReplyDeleteI assume those posters are so that people who don't know who they want to vote for will choose the name they've seen.
ReplyDeleteI'm so furious at the misinformation campaign against vaccinations, I could scream.