The Delta Corona

A week ago, I wrote about the disaster that would result once the Delta variant of SARS CoV-2 hit - really hit - in the U.S.  Well, it's really hitting now.  More people are catching the delta corona in numbers we haven't seen since we had to worry about the British Alpha variant, and states like Missouri and Florida are in full pandemic mode once again.   Even states where new numbers are low, like my home state of New Jersey, are seeing cases surge, though nowhere nearly as much as in states out west or down south.  The only thing keeping the delta corona from getting as bad as it was this past winter is the relatively large number of people already vaccinated, and a majority of people happen to be fully vaccinated in New Jersey.

Oh yeah, about vaccinations . . . I'm not as hopeful about the very incremental rise in vaccination rates as I used to be.  The national vaccination rate, according to the Web site Our World In Data, went from 47.8 percent to 48.5 percent between July 3 and July 11 - a daily increase of one tenth of a percent - suggesting that we could reach 70 percent of Americans vaccinated by some time in February 2022 if that rate continues.  But it's July 15 now, and so many people seem to have shunned a COVID vaccine lately that Our World In Data hasn't updated its figures since July 11 (this past Sunday).  

And yet the foolishness continues.  Right-wingers at the latest Conservative Political Action Conference applauded the news that vaccination rates have gone down.  Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a 2024 Republican presidential possibility, is basing his 2022 gubernatorial re-election campaign on demonizing Dr. Anthony Fauci.  Even as French President Emmanuel Macron (below) is now requiring vaccine passports, which caused vaccination appointments in France to go up rapidly, the very idea of vaccine passports remains as popular in America as proposals to legalize LSD.

Before you start checking out rental properties in Paris and looking at where you can get a good deal on a Renault once you're there, however, there is still a modicum of hope.  Republican leaders such as Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell and Arkansas governor Asa Hutchison are pushing for more COVID vaccinations ("We're in the red zone, but not in the end zone," Senator McConnell explained).  The Biden administration is preparing to fight back against vaccine misinformation, doubling down on efforts to get local political figures, clergy, and doctors to convince people to get vaccinated.  President Biden has even enlisted Olivia Rodrigo - a singer who's popular with American youth, though she's unheard of by folks whose idea of a great female singer is Janis Joplin or Stevie Nicks - to encourage more young people to get the jab.  President Biden is also preparing to send surge teams to areas of the country where COVID is rebounding to get treatments and testing for those who caught the bug.  And there's anecdotal evidence that, in hot spots like Springfield, Missouri, people are beginning to get vaccinated based on the alarming surge in COVID cases.

Despite all that, the pandemic in America is clearly going to get worse before it gets better.  Even those who get sick or know someone who does may not be convinced enough to get vaccinated, and if even any variant that arises from the Delta isn't vaccine-resistant, it's likely to be an even bigger deal in terms of transmission and symptoms.  Considering natural immunity from infection and any spike in vaccinations that may occur based on the current situation, the pandemic will likely end in America soon enough.  But it's going to end with a bang, not a whimper; once the Delta variant burns out, it's going to leave a lot scorched earth in its wake.

And it may even upend Ron DeSantis' campaign strategy.

Viruses, vaccines, variants . . . I'm surprised that the "v" key on my laptop hasn't worn off completely by now.