With the fully vaccinated population approaching 90%, most COVID-19 restrictions were lifted as of 11:59 pm…
last night (in Melbourne, VIC, Aus). Following a long winter in harsh lockdown – 5 km radius, curfews etc, a more exuberating effect at the announcement was anticipated. However, I think most people are overt it – people have had enough of being locked up, Zooming meetings, wearing masks… so the lifting of the final restrictions were not enough to lift spirits for most people.
There might be a few reasons why people might be feeling a bit down. Perhaps, people are still tentative as we are still consistently recording over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases per day and several deaths. Initially, lockdown 6 started when we had a single case and now we are reopening with many thousands of active cases; so for many people the “rules” don’t make sense – of course, the difference is that now a large proportion of the population is vaccinated, so theoretically, severe COVID-19 and hosptilazations should be minimised. However, by now most people know of a person who has become infected even though they are fully vaxxed – some people know vaxxed people that have become sick… so, this is also a factor in diminishing spirits. Also, the fact that we were always aiming for COVID-0 has let us down, since it clear now that that won’t happen.
I read that China is still aiming for COVID-0 – I hope they can achieve it – it is a good aim. Apart from that most countries, including New Zealand, that was close, have given up on that ambition. In Europe, winter surges are happening right now (reports are that in the Netherlands – testing capacity is being pushed to the limit… and in the US – the experts are predicting a winter surge with deaths surpassing 1 million.
These are pretty bleak outlooks – but in better news, booster shots (which are much needed for people vaccinated a few months ago), have been approved for the Pfizer shot and the Moderna are close to authorization. Also, the US is planning to increase production capacity for COVID-19 vaccines to 1 billion doses per year- hopefully, the less affluent countries get some of those doses.
Moving forward, and this includes in Melbourne – where we now have no density limits, unlimited home visits and no masks in most places – rapid antigen testing and contact tracing still remain critical. Further, sequencing efforts need to be maintained – we want to get ahead of any “dirty” variant that might escape the vaccination. Also, let’s give 2nd doses to people that need them before boosters – it is becoming hard – again – for some people to book in their dose; our vaccine distribution system really sucked throughout this pandemic; we need a constant supply of vaccine to make sure we keep up and make it really easy for people to get their shots.
Finally with vaccine mandates around the world forcing some anti-vaxxers to get the shot, the internet has come up with ways to cleanse yourself from the vaccine – detox strategies include drawing blood, cupping, bathing in borax and other stupid things J. GTFOH – silly people!!! I do feel bad for people that we “forced” to take the vaccine – but once you’re vaccinated that’s it – your body will make the spike and if you’re lucky (the vast majority of people), your immune system will make the relevant antibodies offering you some protection from COVID-19… bathing in borax is going to burn your ass J…. The only thing you’ll achieve is being sore and sorry!
Essentially getting vaccinated is giving your body a first look at an important part of the virus, without actually getting infected – so when you do get exposed to the actual virus, your body has already seen that shit and will protect you. So, people that a hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine, don’t stress – it’s good stuff – will give your body a head-start in case you get infected; it’s not some magic crap – just some lipid with the instructions to make the spike of the virus so your body gets used to it. It’s only real hope for “normality”.
Until next time …