We seem to be at a point in the covid pandemic that is very confusing, and frustrating for almost everyone. Apparently something like 40% of the people in the USA have been vaccinated (25% fully vaccinated). That is a great start, but clearly we are not anything like complete. Assuming it is uniform across the country, that means that something like 3 out of 4 people we see are still vaccinated (most people). For some reason, the public is reacting as if we are finished with this, even though many variants are turning up and there are global “hot spots” (such as India) that are still in the throws of an ongoing disaster.

The part that keeps me wondering has to do with the lack of information concerning how effective the vaccines are against catching the virus and then passing it along to others. It sounds like vaccinations are very effective at protecting the vaccinated person, but nothing has been said about protecting those that they come into contact that haven’t been vaccinated. My grandchildren fall into the latter category – I really don’t want to catch it, become a non-systematic carrier, and then pass it along to them. In fact, I am not happy with the idea of passing it along to any of those other 3/4 of the population that are still at high risk.

I see almost all of my friends reacting as if things are now “safe.” They have stopped wearing masks, stopped socially distancing, and generally given up on doing much of anything to protect others. They are slightly careful to socialize with those that have been vaccinated, as if that is safe. In my mind, it is probably protective for the individuals involved (assuming that the protection is close to 100% – which is FAR higher than our experience with things like the flu vaccinations we get every year). However, that protection doesn’t extend to the rest of the population. I don’t see how it is appropriate to act any different from what we have been doing (masking, distancing, sanitizing, limiting contact). It is all the same from the point of view of the overall population.

I am still convinced that the CDC isn’t giving advice concerning personal safety within the population, instead they are focused on the issue of avoiding overloading hospitals. Their advice seems to be based upon keeping the numbers below the capabilities of the hospitals – not on what happens to all of those that still get sick and die. While I too am concerned about the hospitals, I am also concerned about those individuals that do get sick and die. For some reason that consideration seems to have taken a back seat in the discussion.

I am fascinated by how important “normalcy” has become to people. I get the impression that the need to stop with the protections is reaching something close to panic. The need to socialize in ways that are extremely dangerous has become a desperation to many, even if they don’t particularly like those that they want to socialize with. It looks to me like people are saying, “I don’t care what the risks are, I don’t care who I kill, I NEED to take the mask off and I NEED to get close to strangers. If we all die, so be it – it is no longer tolerable to worry or try to protect others, even if they are my children and grandchildren.”

It seems to me that we are on a good track toward getting past the pandemic in a few months. I don’t understand the rush to “break free” at this point in time. We can save thousands of lives by cooling our heels a bit longer. I get that the economy is a concern, but I also see that it isn’t nearly as dire as we are told if we were to just admit the problem and solve it. Most people are still working, most people still have good incomes, most people aren’t in trouble. A small number are having a very difficult time and are hurting. Why can’t we get together so that those who are doing alright help out the others until we get past this? Sure it might be difficult, but that is life. Things happen and we need to do what we can to solve the problems.

In any case, it is certainly interesting to see how forceful people are getting in their desperation to get “back to normal.”