A post-pandemic party sounds marvelous, doesn’t it? Music. Food. People. Socializing. The other day I got invited to one for this weekend. But rather than feeling excited about it, I felt confused —even though the party will be outside and I’m fully vaccinated.
I know life is mostly back to normal, at least compared to where we were with the lockdowns and all. But are we really post-pandemic?
It doesn’t feel that way. Not after talking to one of my neighbors, who not only works at Vanderbilt University but found herself seeking emergency care for her father after he suffered a stroke.
Vandy Medical was all filled up. They were not accepting new patients at that time due to an overflow of COVID ones.
However, the hospital her dad was initially admitted to said he needed surgery but they weren’t equipped to do it. Vandy was, but since they weren’t accepting patients, the best they could do was transfer her dad up to a hospital in Kentucky.
She wasn’t having any of that. All of her dad’s doctors were at Vandy. She’s a Vandy employee. She demanded they get her dad transferred there. D-E-M-A-N-D-E-D. (And if you knew my friend, when she demands something, she’s going to get it.)
Her father did get transferred to Vandy, where after they did scans they determined he didn’t need surgery after all. He was released five days later and is currently back home recovering.
But it scared her. Because of her job, she knew how bad things had gotten with the shortage of beds and staff in hospitals, but she still wasn’t expecting to get turned away.
Also because of her job (she was a part of developing the Moderna vaccine), she’s a little more clued in than the average bear to the Delta variant’s ferocity. She’d warned me long before the CDC recommended it to keep wearing my mask in public even though I’m vaccinated.
And then came the party invite.
I tracked cases like a crazy person during the worst of the pandemic. I knew cases currently weren’t as high as they were during the height of the pandemic, but out of curiosity, I wondered how they compared to about this same time last year.
According to the New York Times, as of September 1, 2020, there were 44,049 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Per that same source, 210,816 new cases were reported on September 1, 2021 —and that’s with just over 50% of the U.S. population fully vaccinated.
Over? I think not. I don’t know what kind of crack those folks are smoking. People are still getting sick. People are still dying. Healthcare workers are overwhelmed. What’s to celebrate?
Needless to say, I politely declined the invitation and refrained from pooping on their party by pointing out a post-pandemic party is a little premature. But when we’re really finally there, I’d love to celebrate with them then.
I understand being tired of dealing with the pandemic but acting like it’s over doesn’t make it so. And you’re right. We’re simply not there yet.
Every single day, I have to write/edit stories about the coronavirus so that our readers will know about the latest cases, overwhelmed hospitals and casualty reports. And seeing people throwing parties or traveling or basically putting themselves/others at risk is infuriating.
We were in lockdown at the end of last year because the U.S. was averaging 180,000 cases a day and very few people had been vaccinated. Nine months later, at least 208 million people have received one or both doses of the vaccine and we’re still averaging nearly 150,000 new cases a day. Yet, there are no lockdowns. People are protesting mask and vaccine mandates. Schools and businesses are reopening, outbreaks be damned.
The U.S. death toll surpassed 650,000 this week. The milestone barely made a blip in most news outlets. On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 Americans died in the terror attacks and it was a national tragedy, one that forever changed our history. With COVID-19, we’re seeing that many deaths every 2 days.
Keep wearing that mask. Get vaccinated, if you can. Maintain your distance from others. Be patient. With such simple actions, we can finally get this pandemic under control. Now that will be something to celebrate!
JADE!!!! Hello! It’s always lovely to see you and your comments. Once again this one is thoughtful and informative and had the added bonus of making me feel better. I’m not alone! Someone else thinks a post-pandemic party is too soon too!
Also, I loved the points you raised about 9/11 and how we responded to that compared to now. That just might spark another post –or at the least be referenced elsewhere.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share what you see from your perspective in the news industry on this!
Hope you and M are both well.