Dealing with Delta

The Midweek Conversation

Welcome to August. It wasn't supposed to be this way. 

It's painful now to think back to the optimism of the early summer, when we naively started to speak about COVID as something that was on the wane, the darkest days behind us. That still may be true in an absolute sense. Doctors say we are unlikely to see the soaring death counts of previous waves. But the hope of a COVID-free life has vanished. 

The delta variant is obviously wreaking havoc with our public health and our personal expectations. Part of what has been so chilling is the so-called "breakthrough cases," of vaccinated people getting sick and having the ability to spread the virus to others. What scientists know about this new form of the virus keeps changing with new data, and that has created its own messaging problems. 

In response to this outbreak has come some hopeful developments. Vaccine rates are going up, especially in hard-hit areas where the rates have been very low. But since it takes weeks to get fully vaccinated, and thus protected, the earlier people get the shot the better. If you know someone in this category, please encourage them. There does seem to be millions of people who are persuadable. 

The other big change is vaccine mandates, at the city government level and at the business level. When Tyson Foods is mandating vaccines for all of its workers — of whom only half are currently vaccinated — we've turned an important corner. 

So the topic of conversation today is a gut check on how you all are feeling. How much have you changed your behavior in light of the spiking numbers? If you are vaccinated, how safe do you feel? Where do you think this pandemic is going? Do you expect the vaccination rates to keep going up? Do you think that those who played politics with the virus will pay a price at the polls? How do you rate the communication on COVID from the White House, the press, the CDC? Do you think, as some have suggested, that there is too much fear-mongering in the current state, especially for the vaccinated who are very protected against serious disease?

I wish we weren't talking COVID again, but it is here, and here we are. Thanks as always for your comments. And I want to once again encourage you to respond to the comments of others, with courtesy and respect. We want Steady to be a safe place for thoughtful discussion, even on charged issues such as this. 

Some ground rules for these Wednesday chats (and also the comments sections on other posts):

• I want a space where people feel safe to express their views, as long as they are offered in good faith.

• I want a space where ideas can be challenged, especially my own.

• I want debate. But I want it to be civil.

• I want people to come here with open minds, and open hearts.

• I want this to be fun as well as serious.

We can agree to disagree without being disagreeable.

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