Amid political bickering over masks and vaccines, we’re missing a sense of community
The political legacy of the past four years has clouded our thinking about intrinsically non-political issues. The single biggest problem facing the world today is the non-partisan virus known to us as SarsCovid-19. As best we can tell, the virus seeks out any available human being to infect— Republican, Democrat, female, male, Jew, agnostic, Catholic, Hindu, Afghan, Italian—absolutely anyone. It really doesn’t care all it wants to do is be a virus and reproduce.
We all know by now that our only available defensive weapons against Covid are vaccination and masks. Getting the Covid infection results in sickness and death. All of this seems to be pretty cut and dried. And yet even as the delta variant is pummeling Florida, Rep. Matt Gaetz of that state proudly proclaimed it to be the “Florida Variant” or the “Freedom Variant”, a clear attempt to continue to change this public health crisis into a pseudo-partisan issue, all the while his constituents get sick and die.
What is missing? In addition to masks and vaccinations, it seems that many Americans lack a sense of community and forget that they also are citizens of the world. Missing is the recognition that their own personal actions affect those around them. This has sustained us in the past. But clearly their inaction spreads the virus from one person to another, causing the others sickness and perhaps death, all the while they are being a knowing accomplice. This is pure selfishness.
As the virus spreads, frustration grows. People don’t want to listen to science or to their elected officials. In a way all this is understandable. The science is complicated and most of us have not had exposure to the science of epidemiology in school. Prevalence, incidence, percent positivity, rolling averages—this has been all on the job training for most Americans. Others have commented that it is hard even to get an intuitive grasp of these numbers—600,000 persons dead in the US from Covid after all. What does this really look like? Can you even name one person on your block in Lexington who died from Covid? I can’t. And then in the next 30 seconds, someone will be on the internet telling you that Covid is a hoax or the vaccine will alter your DNA or make you sterile. The noise is just deafening . . . In the meantime the virus stalks the unvaccinated without remorse, because after all, it’s just a virus. You would think us humans would be smarter.
All the burden has been placed on those citizens who understand the gravity of the situation and their place in the world. As different variants appear, the science and our understanding of the virus evolves. Viewed from outside the scientific community, it appears that the CDC is “walking back” on their guidance. Then as the governors are counting ICU beds, down on their knees begging people to get vaccinated, the logjam persists.
So what can we do since the old strategies are not working? The government clearly has taken the posture of appealing to a person’s sense of altruism, or cash incentives, or mandates. May I suggest a complimentary strategy. We need to get vaccination out of the closet. The Vaccinated are not publicly acknowledged and celebrated. The federal government should manufacture and distribute face masks with only one simple message on them proclaiming: “ANOTHER DECENT VACCINATED PERSON WITH A MASK”. These should be free and available at every facility that administers a vaccination. For those of us who already have been vaccinated, we should be able to show our CDC vaccination card and get a new mask. Let those who are vaccinated proudly proclaim their status and be thanked by the CDC and by their fellow citizens. The Unvaccinated will know at a glance whom to thank for their own safety. And this is also an action item that is clear and printed on the mask for others to follow.
Edward Kasarskis is a professor of neurology at UK who specializes in ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).