16 Months into a Pandemic

President Joe Biden really wanted to call an end to the pandemic on July 4 -- a new meaning on Independence Day.

The nation was ready to call an end to the pandemic on July 4 (if not much earlier).

The only problem is the virus is not ready to call an end to the pandemic.

Today we reached 1,017 new COVID cases in New Jersey. The first time we have seen quadruple digits in three months. It is no longer only the unvaccinated catching the virus, but those of us who have been vaccinated can also get it, and transmit it. The Delta variant is much stronger than the previous one.

What does this mean for daily life? First of all, looks like we'll be back to having to wear masks when we go indoors. Businesses are playing hardball with their employees ... get vaccinated or don't come back. We are slipping backwards. There is animosity and blame on the unvaccinated (us vs. them). Schools will likely require them in the fall (our principal was so happy to have five mask-free weeks during Summer STREAM, but recognizes in September we will likely return to wearing masks).

In a week I went from seeing most people walking around mask-free in Wegmans, to 75% wearing masks. When (no longer seeming like if) the mask mandate returns, staff are going to have to enforce it.

Three weeks after dubbing Disneyland the "land without COVID" due to the few masks I saw (and we all know children under 12 cannot be vaccinated, yet, so at least some of the people walking around indoors were unvaccinated) they changed the rules so everyone has to wear a mask when inside.

If only the honor code really existed.

It is frustrating. Just as we were starting to return to life pre-COVID, the Delta variant is proving itself to be stronger than the three vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson) with breakthrough cases and even some hospitalizations and deaths (though very, very few). There is word of a Lambda variant which likely means there is also an Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, and Kappa variants that have not made the news). The second half of the Greek alphabet might bring one even stronger.

Last summer there was hope this would come to an end with the vaccine. Numbers of new cases and hospitalizations were way down. It looked beatable. Now (with half the populations vaccinated, but no one wearing mask) numbers are higher than last summer. That is discouraging.

A big difference between last summer and this one is the weather. Last summer when outdoor dining started to happen it was a joy because the weather was so perfect. This year has been hotter and more humid, with many more storms (including tornadoes in New Jersey). A step outside is a step into a tropical rain forest. It is not pleasant to dine outside when the option to eat in air conditioning is so appealing.

A couple of weeks ago I made the following post on Facebook:

A few related thoughts:

- 99.7 percent of new COVID cases are from those unvaccinated.

- Children under 12 cannot get vaccinated.

- The longer COVID is around, the more likely it will mutate and the next mutation might not be resistant to the vaccine, making us all vulnerable again.

- With cases on the rise again in NJ, it is not going away.

Get vaccinated. If you don’t care about protecting yourself, care about children and those who can’t get vaccinated.

I stand by those words. Get. Vaccinated.

Today I saw a post that said (paraphrasing) those of you who did not want to be part of the experiment by getting the vaccine are not part of the control group.