With COVID cases surging, casualties mounting, and the US election finally behind us (more or less!) – we are inundated with nearly constant pandemic news. I very much doubt therefore that you need more COVID “information” from me. What we tend not to get much of amidst the data and drama, polemics and dogma…is context, and perspective. Here, I do my best to offer mine- on pandemic politics, and policies, with views from both right and left; on what I have gotten right, what I have gotten wrong, and what I have learned from our experience to date, and from considering opinions I don’t already own; on Thanksgiving, vaccines, herd immunity, and… what lies between us and the end of this great trial that will one day be a story we all tell in our own way, an indelible chapter in a history we all shared. Hoping my perspective contributes something to your own, hoping you stay safe and well, and wishing those concerned a restorative Thanksgiving, however this one may diverge from your family’s favored traditions! This, too, shall pass.
This far into the pandemic, much remains contentious and uncertain. There are, however, certain actions we can take that are sound, sensible, rooted in science, and suitable across a range of ideologies and perspectives. I make the case here for my four recommendations.
With an election looming in the United States, and cases surging- where are we? We are in that infamous “house divided,” a very bad place to be when confronting the greatest public health crisis in living memory. Thoughts here on what we have, and what we need, and how to get from here to there.