Dear Dulles Triangles Members and Friends,
From National Immunization Awareness Month to National Picnic Month, August highlights several monthly awareness topics.
If you have had the news on at all the past few weeks, you have certainly heard the terms “Delta variant” and “breakthrough cases” — and probably gotten a huge dose of scare as well. From governors that started out questioning the existence of COVID-19 now blaming the unvaccinated for the current national surge in the pandemic to national news outlets making it sound like we’re all doomed (DOOMED, I tell you!), it’s starting to sound like 2020 all over again.
Before you start bleaching everything within sight again, take a breather. Remember that news organizations (and “news” organizations) need your eyeballs to keep the ad revenue coming in, so they are more likely to go with a sensational headline like “COVID CASES DOUBLING” than to talk about numbers like you’ll find in this recent Kaiser Family Foundation article. (In Virginia, between January and late July 2021, 1,377 fully vaccinated people—out of 4,569,489—were reported to have contracted COVID-19, or roughly 0.03%.)
Also, keep in mind that scientists (unlike news anchors and “news” talking heads) need to take time to analyze data before releasing guidance—and that guidance can and probably will change as the data sets grow in quality and quantity. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t continue to be cautious, because the pandemic is still very much with us. If you are eligible to get vaccinated and haven’t yet, please do it now. Still unsure? Talk to your doctor.
Next week: Romance Awareness Month!
Comments