The Atlantic: The Millions of People Stuck in Pandemic Limbo, 2021, Ed Yong

mango

mango

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
The Millions of People Stuck in Pandemic Limbo

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/...demic-immunocompromised-risk-vaccines/622094/

In his newsletter Ed Yong writes:

"I wrote a long feature about immunocompromised people—what they’ve been through, their frustrations, and their hopes. This piece is a plea to think about people who don’t get to be done with the pandemic, and to prioritize them as a matter of moral and medical urgency. I urge you to read it even if--especially if--your own risk feels low."

"It's not implausible or onerous to build a world in which being immunocompromised requires fewer compromises. Disability is as much about society as biology. We can put in policies that make IC’d people less disabled in a world where COVID persists. And if you don’t buy the moral argument, here’s a selfish one: Age weakens immunity. Respecting the needs of immunocompromised people isn’t about disproportionately accommodating some tiny minority. It’s about empathizing with your future self.

There's more in the piece, which I hope you'll read. And if you're immunocompromised, I hope this piece makes you feel a little more seen and heard.

You matter."
 
Obviously here in the UK we have the prospect of mask wearing becoming totally optional and in the near future the dropping of quarantine for those testing positive with Covid being a legal requirement.

Recently I had two instances of people I know ignoring social distancing: one someone repeatedly approaching too close in the garden and the other a friend seeking to enter my house without asking if I wanted him to put on a mask rather than waiting outside for me to come down. Not sure if this was coincidence or if it reflects people taking at face value our government’s wish to convince people the pandemic is over for political reasons. Though I hope the vaccinations and booster will give me protection, it does seem foolish after nearly two years of precautions to risk throwing it all away now by premature disregard of distancing and mask wearing.

Also by late last year people I know would let me know when they last took a lateral flow test prior to social contact, whereas now I find I have to ask.

Are other people experiencing others becoming more blasé about precautions? Is this a UK issue or a more international thing?

I had previously started doing more things outside the house, but am now reverting to more strict precautions with what I see as premature relaxing of precautions like mask wearing and social distancing which costs us nothing.
 
Peter Trewhitt said:
Are other people experiencing others becoming more blasé about precautions?
Click to expand...

Yes, definitely. Not so much with friends, but I seem to be one of the very few wearing a mask in shops or at the leisure centre (the staff no longer wear them at all). I took some stuff to the food bank yesterday and everybody was fully masked up, but that's the first place I've seen it for quite a while now.
 
Peter Trewhitt said:
Obviously here in the UK we have the prospect of mask wearing becoming totally optional and in the near future the dropping of quarantine for those testing positive with Covid being a legal requirement.
Click to expand...
I live in Sweden, and I can sadly totally relate :( (Although mask wearing was never really a thing over here, as you probably already are aware.) Nearly all infection control measures were removed on 9 February, and testing is severely limited (basically only healthcare and elderly care staff who are experiencing symptoms). The reporting of number of infected, hospitalised and dead has ended as well, in many (most?) regions. The numbers/curves were still growing exponentially when they "pulled the plug"...

I have very very strong feelings about this... :wtf::mad::cry::(
 
Yesterday they lifted the mask mandate in California except for one county. This means not too much for me, except that I need to have even more patience before I can get my overdue Shingrix shot at the local pharmacy, or traipse into a grocery store for some beloved item that the delivery service is unable to fathom due to some algorhythmic stupor.

And it means that the omicron cases will go up again instead of receding more quickly.


I did buy a baguette for the first time in two years at a new little bakery in a tiny neighborhood arty-farty district. EVen though I was masked in a shop with good ventilation, I felt my ususal personal covid rules waver, and this is primarily due to the junk press articles: it's over, back to normal and of course, the masks off,
EXCEPT if you're not vaccinated (or on public transport, or hospital/clinic).

Oh sure, the unvaccinated are likely to wear masks,

It's topsy-turvey time soon...next variants.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom