The Citizen’s Guide to Beating Covid
Quick reference card included
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So, covid, huh? If you would’ve told me 3 years ago that we’d soon find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic that’s causing global lockdowns in the world’s biggest cities and that it would continue to rage because people were unwilling to take the necessary steps to beat it, I never would’ve believed it.
But here we are.
There have been more than 200 million confirmed cases of covid, and more than 4 million people have died from it. We have vaccines, but governments can’t pay people to get them. Literally. In my home state of Michigan, you can be paid for getting a vaccine, and you’ll also be entered into a lottery for a chance to win millions — but people won’t do it.
We kinda already had an ongoing issue with vaccinations, though. Diseases like measles and mumps were starting to re-emerge and make headlines before covid swept in and stole the spotlight. Those oldies weren’t shutting down schools and restaurants, but maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that a large percentage of the population would refuse to take a “rushed, experimental” covid vaccine given the anti-vaccine landscape.
I definitely wouldn’t have predicted the debate over masks, though. We’re all cool with no shirt, no shoes, no service, but add masks and people get pretty upset. Maskers hate the non-maskers, and the non-maskers hate the maskers.
I’m not here to convince you to get a vaccine or wear a mask. If you have reasons why you don’t think the vaccine is safe, don’t get it. If you don’t want to wear a mask, don’t wear one.
Here’s the thing, though. Covid isn’t going away on its own.
The only way we can stop having the debate about lockdowns and restrictions is if everybody starts taking this seriously and does their part. The best way to do that is to get a vaccine AND wear a mask AND practice social distancing. If you can’t do all three, do two, and if you can’t do two, do one.
If we all do one or none, we have to keep talking about it. Schools and restaurants will close. There will be more mandates and rules. There will be more fighting and arguing.
Winter is coming, too. The largest portion of our unvaccinated population is about to be sent back to school. Rules and restrictions will vary by region, but there will be schools with no vaccines (children under 16 are not eligible), no masks, and no social distancing. It’s not hard to imagine what will happen with the more aggressive delta variant in this environment. School closings are imminent.
The bottom line is this: we need to separate the politics from the virus. We all want the same thing — to return to normal — and we all face the same risks. We all have the same human health. Our kids go to the same schools, and we all want them to be open. We all like to eat at the same restaurants and go to the same movie theaters.
And that’s why we all need to do as much as we can.
If we do everything in our power, it will feel like too much. If we take all the steps and it goes away, it will be easy to say, See? We didn’t need to do all that. However, if we do slightly less than enough, it keeps going. We’ll see more lockdowns. We’ll have more endless debate.
