Ouch...

The needle only looked like it was more suited for a horse. In reality it couldn't have been longer than, say, maybe 10 inches. And when the nice nurse said "On the count of three!" but jabbed me at "Two!" I guess my yelp of "Ouch" was excusable. 

My 'Fauci Ouchie', as my wife refers to it, means I've now joined the 121 million of my fellow Americans who have received at least the first Covid vaccination shot. Which means I'm a 24 percenter! My wife and her mother had received their first and second shots almost a month ago so I'm a little late to the party but at least I got my first dose in time for Governor Polis to announce he's relinquishing control of most Covid restrictions back to the County level which means the free-for-all is about to begin. Wear a mask? Social distance? Wash your hands? Breathe deeply, mask-free, at a Red Rocks concert this summer? (C'mon, haven't you dearly missed the clouds of sweet-smelling ganja wafting over you and 9,500 of your closest friends?) It will all depend on the county in which you reside. 

I get my second dose come April after about three weeks between shots. My wife, who was born in Long Beach, California (I think that qualifies her as an 'American', at least it used to) has relatives up in the still-frozen tundra of Canada who are being told they'll have to wait four months between the first and second poke in the arm. The very scientific rationale behind the extended wait? Simply put, Canada doesn't have enough vaccine to go around. Yet down here some 30% of Americans are telling pollsters (for whatever that's worth) that they don't plan on getting the shot at all. Maybe we can send their unused vaccine up to the Great White North where it might be more appreciated. 

In my household the great debate has now begun - after getting vaccinated do we suddenly return to 'normal'? As in stop wearing masks, stop socially distancing, return to the gym in person instead of taking those wonderful online yoga and workout classes? I'm not generally one to follow the crowd which in this case seems more than ready to proclaim victory over the virus. Oddly reminiscent of former President George W. Bush announcing "Mission Accomplished!" regarding the war in Iraq aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in May, 2003. Of course history had something else in mind as the Iraq war dragged on for y e a r s beyond his momentous announcement. 

All we're getting right now seem to be mixed messages. Saturday, when I got my shot, they gave me a packet that said keep doing what we've been doing (at least most of us) for the better part of a year and counting. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) website tells me once I'm fully vaccinated I can "gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask". Yahoo! I can go to my favorite restaurant again! All I have to worry about is whether all the other unmasked diners are also fully vaccinated or simply part of the 50% of Americans who have chosen not to wear masks when out in Public. 

The numbers aren't much help, at least not in supporting the "Mission Accomplished" argument. We're still seeing roughly 54,000 new cases per day and more than 1,000 of us continue to die every 24 hours. We've already lost 542,000 so at our current pace we'll top 800,000 by the end of the year. I know, I know - if more people get vaccinated then that bodes well for the number of new cases and deaths continuing to diminish and here's hoping that's what happens. I guess a part of me thinks its prudent to wait until we see that actually occur before hanging up the 'Welcome! Open for Business!' sign.

The John Hopkins University of Medicine (not exactly known as a hotspot of "Fake News!") tracks the Covid outbreak for the currently most affected countries. Of the twenty nations considered 'most affected' 17 (including the U.S.) are trending in the wrong direction. For the U.S. data the only thing that makes it look like we've dramatically improved by comparison is the outrageously huge spike caused by holiday travel and socializing in November and December. Take out that anomaly and tell me if you think we've actually made any progress:

John Hopkins University
of Medicine

So, what to do? Prudence versus Pandemic weariness. Personal versus economic health? Caring about others versus your own self-interest? Choices too many to list.

The Denver Post had an article yesterday titled "14 Lessons for the Next Pandemic" asking scientists, public health experts and health advocates about mistakes, missed chances and oversights — and how to prepare for the next pandemic. It's a good, though sobering, look back at a year none of us wishes to repeat. One of the folks, Dr. Reed Tuckson, co-founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID19, summed up much of what I've wondered about in this and prior blogs:

"Many people had an awakening to the people who keep society going forward, and whom we take largely for granted.

But if you can discount the essential worker — the African American, the Latino, the Chinese immigrant who delivers your food — then think how easily you can discount any other human life.

If you are a person who thinks that you have a right not to wear a mask, that philosophy cascades: I couldn’t give a darn about the cashier in the supermarket or the train driver because I don’t care about anyone. I will go into the bar, and I will do what I will do.

This pandemic has shown us who we are, at a level of clarity that is shocking to most people.

It’s hard to imagine there are that many people in our country who really don’t care about others.

That is the scariest thing, it takes your breath away and you can diagnose everything else that is happening through that lens.

That you could tolerate 500,000 deaths in less than a year is incomprehensible to me, that we are a nation that is so callous."

And if that's not quite enough, zookeepers are now discovering that we - humans - are now giving the Covid virus to animals under our care. So far, confirmed coronavirus cases include gorillas, tigers and lions at zoos; as well as domestic cats and dogs. 

To quote Mr. Twain, "The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog." Like I said at the beginning: Ouch.