Another post on Why oh why are Americans so blase about Covid risk?

 BIG new study concludes that, for older folks, getting the latest bivalent Covid booster provides 84% less risk of hospitalization if you catch Covid (the boosters no longer help you prevent catching Covid, but they do prevent your getting really sick or dying). And yet only 14% of adults and older kids have gotten that booster. Which is free.

I'm vaxxed and boosted; I've had Covid and didn't like it. But at least I could be sick alone at home, and I survived without needing to bother the healthcare system, which is overburdened now. I don't like others' doing things that overload the healthcare system, because that's bad for all of us, including h'care workers, who are struggling with overwork now. 

And masking clearly helps slow the spread of Covid, but on our recent trip, where we wore our N95 masks everywhere inside unless eating, I would guess only about 5% (sometimes close to 10%) of adults inside were masked. The new Covid variants are highly contagious, so we are spreading them now like wildfire. No worries--it's killing mostly only the old and the sick ;)  Oh, and the high transmission rate is also allowing possibly-worse new variants to emerge.

One of my additional concerns is the emerging possible understanding that if you catch and survive multiple cases of Covid, even if they are mild cases, the odds go up dramatically that you will have permanent severe health loss (damage to brain, heart, lungs, kidneys). If that proves true, then it would seem prudent now for each of us to take steps to try to prevent catching and spreading Covid.

Given all this, it's difficult to understand why so many Americans have "moved on" from protecting themselves and others, when we're talking these kinds of numbers. It must mean that "pursuit of personal pleasure at all costs" and "disregard of science" are the current themes of the day. Good luck with that, America.

(photo credit: iStock)


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