Here we go again- or I would like to say, I hope not.
I continually hear rumblings that COVID vaccinations are again going to be required and masks mandatory in some locations. Will this lead to more schools and business shutdowns? It better not.
New COVID vaccinations are being rolled out in September, and President Biden is on record encouraging all of us to get it. No mandatory edict has been issued as of yet. However, he has asked Congress to provide billions to drug companies to produce another, more effective vaccine. His request for $7.9 billion for the same, was rejected by Congress in early 2023.
There are a variety of COVID variants circulating. The newest is called Pirola, and the first case in the U.S. was discovered in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Other variants have been circulating for quite some time and are responsible for the hospitalization of 13,000 people in the U.S. last week. That supposedly is an increase from previous weeks, but a far cry from the close to 50,000 people in hospitals from COVID at its peak.
Additionally, only 251 people died with COVID symptoms last week. That number is the lowest it has ever been since the epidemic started in early 2020.
Yet some of us have issued the battle cry – demanding mandatory vaccines and masking up. For instance, Morris Brown College in Atlanta had demanded all students must wear masks, and further, no large gatherings will be allowed. Many hospitals across the U.S. have instituted mask mandates. A school in Kentucky closed in-person classes in favor of remote learning. A Hollywood movie studio won’t allow any one on set without a face covering.
This is how it began in 2020. Social media fueled a hysteria that many of us willingly complied to masking up and learning at home. History, I believe, has told us that was a mistake. Shutting down our economy and forcing our children to learn remotely severely damaged our society.
Thousands, if not millions of businesses were forced into bankruptcy. Millions of teens face mental health issues because they were unable to socialize. I feel badly for those like my son who attended college, but for two years was forced to take courses online and didn’t have the chance to socialize or enjoy on campus life.
Those years were a mess, and it was all dictated by a government and public health officials that didn’t know what they were doing. Check out the death totals from COVID. It likely will shock you how few people died from the virus in comparison to heart disease or cancer.
I have my fingers crossed it won’t happen again. I have my fingers crossed that the general population will not accept any mandatory demands from officials. COVID is a virus, much like the flu, that affects the elderly or those with health issues more so. It is not a disease the general population should fear. I suggest we pay more attention to heart disease and cancer cures, than what the next strain of COVID might bring us. Put that $7.9 billion, President Biden, to mental health issues, rather than handing it to Big Pharma for another COVID vaccine.