The Pandemic has been declared “over” Sept 2022

On one hand, the number of cases that have been diagnosed is down; the number of people hospitalized is down; the number of people who have died with a diagnosis reflecting a covid 19 cause is down; the President of the US has declared the pandemic is over, BUT Covid 19 is still raging around the world. 

A look at the NY Times Coronavirus Vaccinations Around the World tracker, shows that as of Sept 4, 2022, only 69.7% of the world’s population (more than 5.35 billion people) has received at least one dose of the original vaccine. It would be easy to say that third world countries aren’t vaccinated while first world countries are, but the numbers show a more interesting set of data. 

The US has 79% of the population vaccinated with at least one dose, but only 67% of the population have received the necessary second dose of the vaccine and only 33% have received the necessary boosters. Nicaragua on the other had has 97% vaccination rate with an 87% having had their 2nd shot, but so few boosters they don’t even register on the scale. Aruba, Laos, Brunei, UAE, Qatar, Macau are among the countries with similar numbers. Mainland China sits at 93% having had 1 shot, 91% having their second shot and 57% having boosters. Russia on the other hand has a 58% vaccinated rate with only 53% having had their second shot and only 12% having had boosters. Yet ourworldindata.og shows that only 22.3% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose of a vaccine. 

And yet, as we declare ourselves out of the pandemic, everywhere I turn, I meet people who have recently come down with COVID. From families gathering together having the majority of the family come down with COVID and ending up spending their vacation in their rooms, to a teacher who told me it was her first day back to school from getting COVID a third time. She went on to say that 13 students and 13 teachers at her school got COVID the first week of school. She had not only had COVID twice before, she was fully vaccinated and boosted! And yet, she got it again.  

I hear reports daily that while the numbers of active cases and hospitalizations and deaths are down, there is a strong belief that many people are getting asymptomatic cases without realizing it. Others are self-testing and deciding for themselves if they will quarantine or not, without reporting their diagnosis to health professionals. The latest variation “Omicron” is noted for its mild symptoms but easy transmission. Meanwhile the world seems to be “back to normal” in many parts of the US. A few people continue to wear masks, but most don’t. A few people practice self-distancing, most don’t.  

Our society has changed and adapted through the pandemic. More people work from home (my own son just quit a good job to take a work from home job). More people shop online rather than going into stores, so brick and mortar stores are losing money and many small businesses have closed if they couldn’t morph into an online presence. Movie theaters have few patrons. Restaurants are open and busy, but have no wait staff or bussing staff.  So many people chose to retire or to change to jobs where they would be in less contact with others, that it’s hard to find a service business that’s not poorly staffed and “HELP WANTED” signs are in almost every window. 

Whether it’s officially over, relegated to the status of “always there but controllable with vaccines” like the flu or measles or just “there” but no longer deemed as serious a threat to the entire population (like AIDS), the pandemic is over, but COVID 19 lingers and will probably linger for the rest of my life. 

Dale