August 13, 2021

The Path Forward

Pandemics end, as history has shown us, but the other thing that history has shown us is that they do tend to go on for a while before that. This is in their nature, such a formidable foe that we can’t simply put down their persistence to bad government policy or even poor public health policy. Even with great policy and robust public health measures, the pandemic would continue, a problem without an immediate solution, and that’s before we factor in those people who are challenging/undermining public health measures, spreading misinformation, and “just asking questions” that make us much more vulnerable as a community than we necessarily have to be. While it feels better sometimes to have people to rage against, someone to blame (and there sure are people whose actions have made everything so much more awful!), it doesn’t really change anything about where we’re at.

I’ve been observing the ups and downs of pandemic life over the last year and half, which are indeed a reflection of case counts, but the waves I’m thinking about are more emotional ones. It felt pretty fantastic to be in Ontario in June with the city returning to life, with LIFE returning to life, to see friends and family and experience something close to normalcy. This summer has been glorious, which is just what I was hoping for as it was so hard to drag ourselves through a rather dismal spring of field hospitals and virtual school. Last summer was also pretty grand, and this is what I’ve tried to keep in mind as we ride the pandemic roller coaster—that nothing lasts forever, for better or for worse. All of us who kept going toward that light at the end of the tunnel, and for the last six weeks we’ve been bathing in it. There is a point to persisting.

And now it looks like we’re heading back into the tunnel again—and anyone who’s been paying attention to the UK and US should have seen this coming.

But it’s not the same tunnel—you know that, right?

In a few ways, it’s definitely a shitty tunnel, it’s true. A highly contagious variant that disrupts many of the things we’ve come to take for granted about Covid and what’s safe to do. But in so many more ways we’re in such a better place—so many of us did the right thing and went out and got vaccinated (which meant that those people who aren’t able to be vaccinated—including my 8 year old—are safer). While vax rates have fallen off (I wish news media would quit comparing rates to that ONE DAY when Toronto set a world record and vaccinated 27,000 people—not a fair measure!), more people are still getting their shots ALL THE TIME and people are coming up with all kinds of creative ways to reach those who haven’t had access yet. And while so many Twitter epidemiologists are still flexing their egos and (seriously!) because VERY OBNOXIOUS, scientists know more about Covid than they ever have. We’ve come such a long long way. Even better—think of what it means that 72% of Ontarians are vaccinated, and how this undermines all kinds of common narratives perpetuated by grifting quacks. In this way, so many of us really have been all in it together, and that’s amazing and powerful.

We’ve also made it this far and learned a lot in the process about how to take care of ourselves and and each other. Mask-wearing is unremarkable now. Outdoor gatherings are the norm. Most people aren’t washing their bananas in Lysol anymore. Handwashing is a habit. Sanitizer is everywhere. And all of this matters. (Even the Lysol! Because washing your food with Lysol is NOT GREAT!).

One thing I’ve learned is that I really was too cautious in isolating myself and my family from others. My kids were in school, so the stakes seemed high (and they were) but I think I went too far in SAFE direction, taking measures that really didn’t have any measurable effect in the end. I’m not going to do that again. I’m going to continue to see people outside if they’re vaccinated. I am going to do my best to live my life as fully as possible within the parameters of sense. I don’t have to be a martyr. I don’t have to get frustrated at people who are making different choices than me (because it really doesn’t help anyone if I do).

Another thing I’ve learned in the last year that’s proven essential is the importance of CHILLING OUT. When my kids went back to school last September, I quit Twitter and cut out numerous voices who were making an anxious situation even worse. I try not to think so much about the big picture, because the big picture is overwhelming but also I’m not in charge of the big picture, nobody pays me to look over all of society, and so I just have this little patch that I’m responsible for and I’m doing the best I can.

As @yellowmanteau has written so gently and perfectly, limiting your Covid intake is advisable. I read just a handful of news sources (and one of them is my Guardian Weekly magazine, whose latest cover is all about the UK emerging from its latest wave, which is a wonderful forecast of the future). I only check the numbers when reading them makes me feel good.

I also recommend reading the article by Ed Yong in The Atlantic on the new route out of Covid now that Delta has made everything harder (and the path longer). @science.sam shared it in her stories and it’s a clarifying view of the path forward, affirming what @science.sam has been saying all along (and saving my sanity in the process) which is ALL PANDEMICS END.

We’ll get there. Keep going! You’re doing it. (Unless you haven’t been vaccinated yet: go do that.)