34.4 Million confirmed cases, 610,049+ deaths, and seventeen months since the first lockdowns began, we (the United States) are still getting our asses kicked by a vicious little virus called covid-19. 

Unlike last year, we aren’t clueless as to what covid is, how it infects people, and how it is dealt with and treated. Six months ago, the covid vaccines became widely available for the general public in the United States, and are still available at most local pharmacies, hospitals, and drive-thru vaccination sites. Unless you have a valid medical reason to not get the covid vaccine (such as, if you are a recent organ transplant recipient or are undergoing chemo-therapy), it is your duty to get vaccinated against covid-19.

Yet, as of now, roughly 100 million Americans have refused to get vaccinated at all, and the number of daily vaccination doses given continues to decline. Also, covid cases are starting to rise again in every single state, and is wreaking absolute havoc in places where the vaccination rate remains very low. 

The covid virus is much smarter and much more dangerous than many people think it is. Now that most old and at-risk people have gotten vaccinated, the virus targeting young people and making them much sicker than before. The virus is also much more transmissible, and some variants are even starting to show some resistance to the existing covid vaccines. The current covid shots are still extremely effective at preventing covid infections, and are especially good at keeping people out of the hospital and above ground. But, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous and getting ready for a potential covid variant than can skirt the current vaccines. I’m sure I’m not alone. 

To be honest, I saw this shit coming from miles away. I knew that certain people and politicians would make covid a selfish, stupid, “us vs them” issue, rather than something that everyone regardless of religious/political/cultural beliefs, needed to fight against as one united people. But, I also knew I had zero power to prevent it. My pleas to mask up and physically distance from others fell upon deaf ears, at best. At worst, I was made fun of and called a fear-monger and a libtard. 

Eventually, I decided that I needed to just handle the covid pandemic the best way I knew how. Essentially, I jumped ship. I told some of my loved ones, as painful as it was, that they were free to pretend covid wasn’t real, but I was going to do what I needed to do to stay healthy and alive. And, seventeen months after the first lockdowns began, I have remained virus-free this entire time, while my unvaccinated, “covid-is-a-hoax” loved ones have all gotten sick with covid more than once, and are still suffering covid-like symptoms months later. 

Some of those loved ones have since wisened up, made amends, and have gotten vaccinated. But, the lucky few who managed to fully recover on their own are still stubbornly refusing to get vaccinated. I can only pray that they will be okay, and they won’t fall ill and die begging for a vaccine, like so many others have. Especially as new and more dangerous variants have reared their ugly heads. 

Like most other people, I have no idea how we can dispel the rampant misinformation and fear-mongering conspiracy theories, once and for all. Right-wing news outlets continue to hawk lies and false information about covid and the vaccines, even as their voters continue to drop like flies in many places across the USA. But, it’s not just them. A lot of naturopaths, churches, chiropractors, and disgraced medical “doctors” are using the internet to promote their bullshit and spread lies and fear about the pandemic-ending vaccines. It’s all over Youtube and Google. And, I’d imagine it’s all over Facebook and Instagram as well (which is another reason out of many why I vow to never return to those cesspools). 

I think the only feasible way we can bring covid to its knees, is to mandate vaccines. As much as I respect Biden and his commitment to diplomacy with his political opponents, I think he’s rather spineless. And, the only way we’re gonna dig out of this shit is if the people in power stop trying to have rational conversations with conspiracy theorists and pseudo-scientists, and mandate vaccines for those who can get them but refuse to. Or, at the very least, make the unvaccinated wear a mask or risk going to jail if they refuse to mask up. 

But, again, I don’t see any of that happening. Instead, I predict that this fall and winter is going to be an utter shitshow. Sure, the vast majority of the vaccinated will remain untouched by the virus. If we do get sick, we won’t go to the hospital or die. We’ll just have the sniffles for a week or less. But, the unvaccinated aren’t gonna be so lucky. It breaks my heart. It really does. I’m not sure what can realistically be done. We might just have to let Darwinism do its thing, and hope and pray those who get sick will not succumb to their illness. 

There’s so much more I wish to say, but I don’t wanna get so angry that I end up throwing my laptop through the window. So, instead enjoy this picture of two fawns I spotted in my neighbor’s backyard. The neighbor wanted my help to shoo them away from her tomatoes (she was too afraid of mama deer, who was watching nearby, to scare off the little trouble-makers by herself).