…Signs of weariness — or misguided hope — are everywhere. Although more than 70 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated, progress has stagnated, and as of Jan. 27, only 44 percent had received boosters, which provide vital protection against severe illness. Although most of us, especially parents, want schools to stay open, parents have gotten only about 20 percent of children ages 5 to 11 fully vaccinated. As in 1920, people are tired of taking precautions.
This is ceding control to the virus. The result has been that even though Omicron appears to be less virulent, the seven-day average for daily Covid-19 deaths in the United States has now surpassed the Delta peak in late September.
Worse, the virus may not be finished with us. Although there's a reasonable likelihood that future variants will be less dangerous, mutations are random. The only thing certain is that future variants, if they are to be successful, will elude immune protection. They could become more dangerous...
We all know that we should not repeat past mistakes, but most of us do just that, nonetheless. I see this in disaster response all the time. By the end of the response many people have become learned experts on how to prepare for the next disaster. Some things may be done but more often than not all this wisdom is soon forgotten or those with the wisdom move on to greener pastures and it seems we are as unprepared as ever when then next troubling event occurs.
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