More Pandemic Blues: Escape ‘Covid World’ by taking a trip back to Oz
Are you feeling frustrated because that death toll to coronavirus is DESPITE 203 million Americans (nearly 62 %) getting fully vaccinated, and millions of those getting booster shots?
Are you at the point where you’re thinking that the pandemic will be with us forever --- especially if you’re over 60 --- then take a break immediately before you lose your mind.
One thing you can do is to do what my wife and I did on a recent evening: Watch “The Wizard of Oz” for the millionth or so time, so you’ll be able to fall asleep and wake up humming all of the classic tunes from the 1939 film, especially “Over the Rainbow” and “We’re off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
That’s one way to get your mind off the non-stop doom and gloom of how we should be afraid to gather, fear more lockdowns and just become hermits for the rest of our lives because we know this pandemic will never ever go away.
A pandemic of extremes
That won’t happen because the far right and far left don’t want it to go away; the former has spread reams of misinformation and vehemently discouraged millions of their supporters and voters from following the science and just getting vaccinated and wearing masks indoors, while the far left wants us all locked down again until the positivity rate is down to nothing, which it will never be, the health of our economy and our mental health be damned.
We’ve been killing ourselves as a nation since this whole pandemic started because our responses have, with few exceptions, lacked a common-sense, middle ground approach.
So, here are some common-sense things that we all can do to at least manage the pandemic, if not eventually get rid of it:
Some common-sense pandemic advice
* To the unvaccinated: Stop believing all of the misinformation and crazy theories on social media --- the bane of 21st century existence --- and JUST GET VACCINATED ALREADY. THERE IS NO EXCUSE not to get vaccinated.
There may be some who have legitimate health concerns for not getting vaccinated, but millions of millions of people, especially the majority of those living in Red States, are just stubbornly refusing to get vaccinated solely for political purposes just to prolong the pandemic in order to sabotage the country’s efforts to get rid of the pandemic.
* Wear masks indoors at stores and any large gatherings such as TD Garden and concert and theater venues. And if someone refuses to wear a mask, then don’t let him or her attend the event, period. No excuses.
* Ban all those who assault airline personnel over their insipid refusal to wear masks from ever flying again. It’s past time to stop coddling these stubborn people who care nothing for the majority of Americans who have been vaccinated and have been following common-sense approaches.
* Mandate the vaccine in schools, just as dozens of vaccines have been mandated for decades. I agree with and applaud school officials who refuse to return to remote learning, but schools need the tools of vaccines to keep kids learning in person.
I had no choice as a kid in the late 1950s and 1960s to get vaccinated against polio; no one did. And guess what happened? Polio got eradicated. We could at least significantly reduce COVID cases, if not get rid of them altogether, if we all just would get vaccinated!
* This winter, limit your travel by air. You have to look no further than the NFL, NHL and NBA --- all of whom have been having major COVID upticks despite the majority of their athletes being vaccinated --- to see the negative repercussions of constant travel.
* The NHL should never have reverted to a “normal” schedule; they should have kept a regional one, as they did in the league’s abbreviated 2021 season. The Bruins and all NHL teams have been shut down, at least until after Christmas.
The NHL did the right thing in refusing to send its pros to Beijing for the Olympics, and we as a nation should consider, citing COVID, pulling all of our athletes from the Olympics. It’s beyond me why any American athlete would want to travel to China in February, knowing that a positive test, even if among asymptomatic, vaccinated and boosted athletes, will result in that athlete being forced to spend up to FIVE WEEKS in quarantine in China, per China’s policy. Nothing ---- not even the Olympics ---- is worth being in quarantine for five weeks in China.
* Doctors who act as spokesmen for this pandemic need to soften their language. I woke up the other day to hear one doctor say on WBZ-TV in Boston that we’re all going to be “overrun” with the Omicron variant. Keep on talking like that and mental health issues and depression will skyrocket even more than they have as millions of people fall into deep depressions.
* More doctors should speak like the smart, eloquent and incredibly compassionate and pragmatic Dr. Mallika Marshall of WBZ-TV, who has been explaining issues about COVID in layman’s terms with empathy for all since the start of the pandemic. Her approach stands in sharp contrast to the other doctors and scientists, who constantly talk down to we average Americans and largely provide very little context to the stats that they do provide.
Language matters, and far too many “spokespersons” about COVID --- especially those on all cable TV --- only serve to divide and frighten us all. They all should be ashamed of their thoroughly irresponsible conduct.
* More officials should be like Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, who has kept the Bay State safe without totally killing the economy. Maybe sports and other entertainment venues may have to cut down their capacity, but he understands that another lockdown would not only be a lethal blow to our economy, but it would adversely affect the psyche of this nation for decades to come, and most businesses ---- except those run by billionaires ---- will never be able to recover.
* Finally, stop being the left and right as Americans and just unite for once, for crying out loud! Because we’re all collectively responsible for keeping this pandemic going by not rallying together.
Stop the noise on the left, and stop the noise on the right, and start caring about the millions of us in the middle who have been following protocols, got vaccinated, got boosted, continue to wear masks indoors and who remain leery about attending events at big indoor venues.
We’re barely going to restaurants again after avoiding them for so long; don’t shut us down again.
Come together so kids can continue to be kids, and so seniors like myself can feel like we’re not going to spend our last days afraid of living and traveling.
Just come together, get vaccinated so we can end this damned horrible pandemic before it ends us!
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