Psychologists find that people will ignore or even deny the existence of a problem if they’re not fond of the solution. This is currently causing me a great deal of frustration with a few of my friends and family.
Improving Communication
Scientific Researchers typically feature A lot of information about the limitations of studies in their articles. They see them less as holes in their work and more as portholes to future discoveries. But when they share the findings with non-scientists, they sometimes gloss over these caveats and that’s a mistake. as we have discovered over the last year and a half. There are too many people that still don’t understand how evolving science works.
People ask, why, if you’re vaccinated, do you care about the unvaccinated not getting the jab? isn’t that their problem?
There’s a few reasons. The immunocompromised, children, and others who cannot vaccinate or who vaccination won’t work for depend on the rest of us.
Also, those unvaccinated are more likely to get sick enough to drive new variants that may eventually result in one with vaccine escape capabilities, and we’re back to square one.
This whole situation has been very costly for everyone, on a number of fronts. No one wants more of that.
As well as the fact that they’re driving the numbers up and are essentially going to cause us to go back to wearing masks and if it gets bad enough, who knows? More business closures or restrictions…none of which are good for society.
So back to wearing masks in indoor public places. To avoid a bunch of people that are around a bunch of people.
Cases are Spiking. How to Respond?
One of the most important things the federal government could do to promote more uptake of the vaccines is for the FDA to grant them full approval. Not because this will convince the hard-core hesitant — it’s just as plausible that they will see approval as evidence that political interference has rushed the process — but because it will change the legal landscape for mandatory vaccination. In particular, it would allow the military to order vaccination of all those serving in uniform, as they do with a host of other vaccines.
Mandates
Mandating vaccination for all people that work in healthcare settings is also an obvious move with potentially substantial public health benefits given the shockingly low uptake of vaccines in that sector and the need to protect vulnerable patients — including the immunosuppressed who cannot benefit adequately from vaccines. Such mandates could be imposed even without FDA approval, as demonstrated by the failure of a suit against Houston Methodist Hospital by staff who did not wish to comply with the hospital’s mandate. Resistance evaporated and compliance soared right after the suit failed.
Businesses that are vulnerable to disruption due to COVID outbreaks also have reason to mandate vaccination, and the government makes it clear that they are free to do so.
Through mandates, the government would be making it clear that they are willing to take on the legal and social responsibility to get more shots in arms.
From auto assembly lines to public schools to meatpacking plants, managers should see the risk a COVID outbreak would pose to their ability to operate effectively, and act accordingly — particularly if insurers start charging higher rates or declining to provide certain kinds of coverage to operations that do not have a mandate in place.
None of this requires hectoring, or even persuasion — which is good, because those strategies are proving ineffective. On that score, I think the powers that be should take a good look in the mirror and recognize that their ability to persuade is distinctly limited. While they deserve some of the blame for their impotence — as right-wing critics never tire of litanizing — distrust of authority is also part of human nature, and especially American nature. That’s something we have to live with, not rail against.
So I think it behooves those same authorities to start taking a different tack in their public statements, less imploring and more matter-of-fact. The vaccines are safe, and are life-saving, and so in areas where the government has direct authority and a mission that depends on health, they are going to mandate vaccination. Furthermore, where there remain barriers to access, they’re going to remove or go around them, so that nobody gets sick for lack of a vaccine they were willing to take.
Self-Reflection: You know how much time has gone into the development of MRna vaccines? Decades. Since the 1980’s. Do you know what has only a year and half of science behind it, though? Treatment for COVID. I find it endlessly ironic that people who are refusing a vaccine because it’s been given emergency use authorization, are getting sick enough to go to the hospital where they receive… treatments that have been given emergency use authorization.
Door to Door
I think the Biden administration proposal to go door to door offering vaccines for free to anyone who wants them is a great idea, and long overdue. I remember standing in line to get a polio vaccine through a yummy sugar cube when I was a very young child.
But if particular states and localities want to reject that help, they should be free to do so — and Biden should say it. The very existence of the vaccines in sufficient quantities to give everyone a shot who wants one changes the moral calculus, and makes it less and less reasonable to claim that too many innocents are at risk to allow other people the freedom to be foolish.
So if Tennessee wants to abandon vaccination outreach to minors for fear that some parents will be upset, that’s their prerogative — or it’s a problem for the citizens of Tennessee to solve by replacing their government. That’s what it means to be a democracy. Public health is a matter of public responsibility, but particular communities and certainly private citizens remain free to take their lives in their own hands. Indeed, that freedom not to get vaccinated is perfectly parallel to the business-owner’s freedom to mandate its employees get vaccinated: Each is making the decision that reflects their own assessment of their interests and values.
Where We Are as of the End of the First Week in August
These are my thoughts only, after doing some research and reading what the concerns are from those I trust.
There are two problems. There are too many people that haven’t gotten the vaccine yet. And, a more viral variant has taken hold to the point that the overwhelming majority of cases right now are this new Delta variant.
The concern is that additional variance will be allowed to develop because of the continued spread of the disease.
Why are the cases spiking? Because the variant is far more contagious and easily spread. Because a small number of vaccinated people can get slightly ill and still spread disease, and many times unknowingly. because when cases started to decline after vaccinations were administered, everyone, including those that decided not to get the vaccine, literally went back to their prior lives.
People are still hanging onto the “not my problem I’ve been vaccinated” mantra that doesn’t take into account that because there are so many cases out there now, although not likely, the vaccinated can actually get a slight case of COVID-19 and unknowingly spread it to someone that’s unvaccinated who will spread it to someone that can’t fight it etc. etc. … and ultimately hospitalizations and deaths occur.
Hopefully, the FDA will give final approval to at least one of the vaccines. But I’m wondering if that will actually do any good. My belief at this time is that mandates is the only way to get this thing under control. people will get the vaccine when they learn that there are too many obstacles place before them to live their lives and it’s just not worth it to hold the torch for the unvaccinated.
Our Fall Trip is Cancelled
The reunion committee gave us a deadline of August 16 to let them know if we were still going. After the 16th, we would not receive a refund. I decided in late July that it was too risky to go, and I wasn’t going …. even if Lynn decided to go. But on the 15th, he made the decision to cancel. So again, a planned trip won’t happen. I’m OK with that. Better safe than sorry.
Countering the Anger
I’m dealing with a lot of anger right now towards the thoughtlessness of people that think that their beliefs and attitudes should drive the agenda. Some of them are close to me. I feel too that my need to be respected is suppressed and sometimes outright blocked. I’m praying about this and keeping my mouth shut. But it sure is hard.
Lots of Breakthrough COVID Cases as of mid-August
According to Dr. Z, what’s happening now is that more people that have had the vaccine are getting infected. They’re still not getting really sick and going to the hospital. But, it’s been determined that they are just as able to spread the virus as the unvaccinated because the Delta virus is so much more powerful in its spreading capability. So what does this mean? Possibly, eventually, we will all get COVID.
For aging people like Lynn and I, our immune systems are less able to adjust to new variance and infections. This is why it’s been recommended we get the shingles shot, which we did. So what he is saying is that we need to get a booster as soon as it’s available, and he thinks that the elderly population should be considered immunocompromised. And we should follow mitigation efforts, and for now don’t go back to what we’ve been doing since the cases started going down last spring. No more back to business as usual at least for the time being. (This is what our PCP advised us at the end of August).
He also says that the unvaccinated are at a much higher risk of getting very sick or dying, at least right now. He’s hoping that boosters will be available very soon so that this doesn’t start happening to older people that got the vaccine back in March and who now aren’t as protected because they were not sure how long the shot would be effective. It’s the same situation as the annual flu shot. Over time, a shot becomes less effective and boosters, perhaps annual ones, need to be given.
We Still Have A Few that are Unvaccinated
A granddaughter and friend of another grandchild aren’t choosing to be vaccinated. This has made it necessary for us to change our approach toward family gatherings. My prayer is that their minds will be changed once the vaccines receive final approval … or, that some event or “revealing” will occur to change their minds. Lord, please keep them safe.
A Year Later: An Update Interview with Dr. Fauci
Go to this blog post for a transcript of the interview.
Breakthrough COVID Infection
The son of someone close to me was just diagnosed with COVID. He had the vaccine. He just started college, and thinks he may have been exposed at a large orientation meeting. Looks like there may be a COVID 19 outbreak coming at that college.
This Is Not Last Year’s COVID.
The contagious Delta strain provides a threat, and mounting evidence is that the vaccine efficacy against infection and mild disease is waning over time. So therefore, boosters are being recommended eight months after the second shot. That will help American citizens stay ahead of the virus. We don’t want to stay behind playing catch-up. More than 900,000 new Covid cases were reported last week; the highest number since February. More than 91,000 people are currently hospitalized with the disease.
Cases went up 17% in a week. A record 1,900 children are now in the hospital with COVID 19, and some 121,000 tested positive for the virus last week. This is not last year’s COVID.
The Coronavirus is Here Forever. This is How we Live With It.
We can’t avoid the virus for the rest of our lives, but we can minimize its impact.
Sarah Zhang
How We Live Forever With Coronavirus (The Atlantic)
When Your Governor Doesn’t Strongly Recommend Vaccination and Works Against Mitigation
Governor DeSantis of Florida has not strongly recommended vaccination or supported mask use in his state. He has been in direct opposition to the advice of the CDC and infectious disease doctors nationwide. Florida has experienced among the worst death rate from COVID-19 over the last month and the last week out of any state in the union. Florida is at the top, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The data is crystal clear.
It seems that some are more intent on fighting imagined enemies than the real enemy here, which is the virus. The virus doesn’t read talking points. The virus doesn’t watch news shows. The virus just waits for us to make mistakes. And when we make mistakes, as Texas and Florida and South Carolina and Arizona did, the virus wins. When we ignore science, the virus wins.
Thomas Frieden, former CDC Director
As the Month Comes to an End
Our good friends John and Sandee Koobatian, and Grace Pendleton, spent the last four days of August with us. We spent most of our time at our home, due to COVID and because John is facing major surgery and needs to be somewhat isolated. We got into some pretty intense conversations! But it was good. I was able to share my thoughts and opinions, and I felt somewhat validated, whether or not they agreed with me.
Check out this blog post for more photos of our summer, and of them and other friends and family!
Go to: COVID 19 – September, 2021
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