The phrase “grim milestone” has cropped up with such frequency in the last 20 months that it’s beginning to lose its meaning.
Because West Virginia surpassed the grime milestone of 5,000 state deaths last week, and barely anyone paused. Nearly 4,000 of those deaths have occurred since Jan. 1 of this year. To put this in perspective: More West Virginians have died in the months since vaccines became available to most adults than in the first year of the pandemic.
As of this writing, unvaccinated people make up 99.57% of COVID-related deaths, 79.8% of hospitalizations, 82% of ICU cases and 86.3% of cases requiring a ventilator in the Mountain State.
West Virginia’s “grim milestone” comes as the U.S. rapidly approaches 800,000 lives lost to COVID and the emergence of the omicron variant.
Omicron is dominating headlines, but experts are still gathering information. That said, the general consensus — so far — is that omicron is more contagious but not as severe as delta.
It’s also believed vaccines are still effective at preventing severe illness from omicron. As we’ve said before, vaccines are less about keeping you from ever getting infected and more about keeping you out of the hospital and off death’s door.
As the pandemic drags on, it’s essential vaccinated individuals get booster shots. The FDA and CDC have advised that Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines start to lose protection after six months; Johnson and Johnson’s loses effectiveness after two months. The more vaccine protection wanes, the more likely a vaccinated person is to contract a more severe case of COVID.
The good news is all adults are eligible for booster shots, and the FDA and CDC approved mixing and matching. As the cherry on top, Pfizer-BioNtech announced Wednesday the Pfizer booster gives significant protection against omicron, though that is not yet verified by independent studies.
We have some sympathy for the people who feel things are moving too fast — and that the guidance keeps changing. It’s enough to give you whiplash sometimes. But we have to keep in mind that we’re in a unique situation: We are watching science happen in real time.
Usually, all the science-y stuff happens behind the scenes: The research, the experimentation, the trials (and errors), the start-overs, the question that leads to answers, the answers that lead to even more questions … . As the general public, we only become aware of “science” when we are presented with the final product: new technology, new medical procedures, new medicines, new understanding of nature or disease.
The basis for the COVID vaccines we’re receiving now was created behind the scenes years ago. Now, we’re watching scientists and medical experts take previous knowledge and technology and outfit it for the current situation — and this is just not something we’re used to seeing. It seems wrong that science doesn’t get everything 100% correct on the first try, because we’ve never paid attention before.
The one thing science does know — and has known for quite a while — is that mass vaccination is the best way to end a pandemic.
