In January of this year, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccines were being approved that could end the nightmare of Covid. At first, we struggled with short supplies and cryptic announcements of vaccine availability. Age brackets and occupations were prioritized. Everyone was clamoring to get vaccinated. By April, weeks after receiving my second vaccine, we ventured out, cautiously. We made a driving trip north to spend time at a resort in Vero Beach, Florida. We felt safe. Life was slowly looking more normal.
By July, that light at the end of the tunnel turned out to be the headlamp of the Delta Variant Train with hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated on board. It was the re-release of Alice Cooper’s first solo album, Welcome to My Nightmare. We were facing a multi-pronged attack of unvaccinated zombies living in the parallel reality of fear and conspiracy theories, being supported by Republican politicians who saw this as an opportunity to score political points.
Now, without some change in the status quo by way of vaccine mandates or highly incentivized vaccine coercion, we will face cycles of viral infection, illness, death, hospital crowding, and mask-wearing. This will be our future. It is truly sad that our national medical problem will require a political solution, if not through sound leadership, through the ballot box.
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