“Omicron…will ultimately find just about everybody.”
Quoting Emerson, Lake and Palmer, “But there it is.”
OK. So now what?
That depends. There is, of course, a rational path forward. But based on our track record, there is little reason to believe we will follow it.
“Rational” would include universal full vaccination, with the definition of “fully vaccinated” now including all recommended boosters. “Rational” would mean unlimited free testing. “Rational” would mean public mask mandates. “Rational” would mean that that porous, skunky little “gaiter” Kleenex you’re wearing (under your nose, of course) gets you forearmed in the mouth and makes you a social pariah.
All of this should be motivation for the remaining unvaccinated to come correct. But we know how this is going to go. Because it’s already going that way.
I’m already hearing from the give-up artists. “Hey, if we’re all gonna get it anyway, what’s the point in getting vaccinated? The vaccines don’t work, anyway.”
The Stupid. It hurts.
It is now more important to get vaxxed than it has ever been. And the vaccines don’t only work, they work spectacularly. And safely.
Nobody ever said that the vaccines would prevent all COVID infections, although they were incredibly effective against COVID’s original iteration.
The vaccines’ purpose is to keep you out of the hospital and on this side of the dirt. The results have been nothing short of remarkable. Our COVID wards and morgues are populated almost exclusively by the obstinate and ignorant unvaxxed. The statistics are overwhelming and undeniable. Essentially, STFU.
The unvaxxed are overtaxing our health system and drowning our economy. It’s not vaccine and mask mandates that are throttling our economic growth and preventing us from getting our lives back. It is unvaxxed idiots who are responsible for that.
As you have probably surmised by now, I have no desire to “make nice” with the unvaccinated. At this point, I have only two words for them, and one of them is “you.”
Why it makes sense to get vaccinated:
- It will make you less likely to get infected, although it is not universally protective against Omicron.
- “Mild” is a relative term, o unvaxxed morons. A “mild” hit by Ronnie Lott would still put you to sleep.
- It will make you less infectious to others. Yes, we’re asking you to have some regard for humanity. Sorry for the imposition.
- You don’t want any part of “long term.”
- It will keep our hospitals from being overrun.
- Doesn’t staying out of the hospital and not including a toe tag in your winter wardrobe seem like a pretty good deal?
- It will help in tamping down future variants and mutations.
An unvaxxed social media friend (and he is a nice person, you know, for an unvaxxed moron) asked me last night if I had received the “Trump” vaccination as soon as it was available last winter. My answer? Of course. Without hesitation. The instant it was available. Why wouldn’t I?
The fact that he asked that question and labeled the vaccine the way he did is the core problem here. This is rightly a public health issue, not a tribally political one. The fact that I even have to state that is beyond depressing.
Two years into this, we are now averaging 754,000 new U.S. cases daily. And because of our lack of testing, the real number is far north of that. American COVID hospitalizations number 145,900 as I type this on Wednesday morning. Inexcusable. Avoidable. Self-inflicted.
The United States leads all countries of the world in COVID cases and COVID deaths. There is not one single excuse for that, and never has been.
Insanity.
There is a rational path out of this. But recent history says we will not be rational enough to follow it.
And let me re-state that at this point I have not the slightest remaining desire to “make nice” about this. Two words for you. And one of them is “you.”
One Response
I love this column. Correct, there is NO reason for the US to be the “Worldwide Leader” in COVID. But let’s take a more optimistic tone. With more and more information becoming availavle, from sites like RR and others, maybe we can finally lose that title? And just maybe we can turn the tide. Maybe.