It's been two years since COVID-19 struck the United States and it has since killed over a million people in that time. Before reaction to the disease was politically polarized, back when we were uselessly wiping our groceries down before we brought them into the house, we made a series of decisions that have become a focal point in the midterm elections. Schools were closed down, offices were closed down, companies were given payroll relief, and things like unemployment benefits were expanded.
Fast forward a year and one COVID vaccine later and schools have resumed but, along with airlines, have mask mandates in place, unemployment benefits are coming to an end, workplaces are hybrid to the extent they can be, and our supply chains are in shambles. Controversial vaccine requirements crop up to do anything from attending a concert to working at your job. COVID continues to kill thousands of people a day.
Today, schools are in full swing, mask mandates and masks themselves are almost wholly gone, vaccine mandates are minimal if existing at all, and expanded benefits programs are practically forgotten (mostly because no one wants to admit they were wrong when they pinned the blame for the workforce shortages on them). Now that our societal COVID defense measures have largely come to an end and we're trying to politically litigate what was necessary and what was damaging to the economy and society as a whole, I can honestly say I feel just as in the dark as I ever was.
While I'm more certain of the effectiveness of some actions I can take - like wiping down my groceries is useless, getting boosted is not useless, wearing a mask on an airplane might be useless but I'm going to do it anyway - I'm not entirely sure how terrified or angry I need to be. The effectiveness of cloth masks has been challenged, some believe masks do nothing, although it seems the data leans into other types of masks being very effective, yet when there are mask mandates cloth masks are accepted. However, this doesn't seem to matter as there are effectively no mask mandates and almost no one wears them anymore. Is wearing a mask useful if I'm the only one doing it? Should we demand a return of the mandate or a more extreme one that requires KN95/N95 masks? Should we be fighting this battle?
Even the vaccine and the boosters are a cluster of conflicting information. First, the vaccine was supposed to be the end of Covid, which turned out to be false as you could still be infected and transmit the disease while vaccinated. The narrative shifted to say it lessens the likelihood of infection, this too seems to be wrong. Now the narrative is cornered into the likelihood of severe illness and death, which seems to be technically true but not valuably true. It is unsurprising then that so many Americans have opted not to get the final round of boosters.
The questions are endless. Did remote learning cause the severe suffering of public education or did the death and destruction wrought by the pandemic cause this? Are public schools even suffering as a whole or is it mostly just vulnerable populations suffering more? Did shutdowns cause our current inflation and supply chain issues or was it something else? Was expanded unemployment responsible for restaurant closures or was it workforce exploitation?
It's even impossible to assess the risk to yourself or your loved ones as you try to weigh these various decisions. The rate of death is lower than it was, but the disease is still killing hundreds, sometimes thousands a day, and many say it could spike again. The probability of Covid killing you if you're young is low, even lower if you're a child. However, deaths of young people have trended up and down. Deaths of vaccinated people have also jumped lately, although vaccination remains the best variable against death or severe illness. Long covid is apparently a thing even if you don't get severely ill. Or maybe it isn't...a thing...at all.
The point is the internet is so flush with quick and accessible information that essentially any sentiment, thought, or fear can be justified with data or expert opinions. I don't want to die or get very sick, I don't want my loved ones to die or become disabled from illness, especially if it was preventable. I am terrified that this could happen at any moment, worst case scenario is it happens because of something I did or didn't do. And yet it's not even clear I can do anything at all. Everything to lose with inaction, yet all action is useless. Total paralysis.
