The ugly reality of this pandemic is that COVID has probably already become endemic because of human idiocy and greed. The idiocy part is human receptiveness to vaccine and other health-related misinformation. The greed part is pharma’s pursuit of dollars regardless of the expense in human misery – squeeze the masses for every last shekel they can spare. It sounds just a bit like Frank Herbert’s Duke Vladimir Harkonnen, I’d say.
I don’t mind having to take an annual vaccine booster to stay well; I can well afford it, but not everyone can – especially not folks in the third world. Sadly, folks who trust in natural immunity after surviving a bout of COVID may have a rude surprise in their future. Alas!
Just saw this on CNN. I would like to read your comments… https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/health/covid-antibody-treatment-doctors/index.html?fbclid=IwAR12GC8LYbdCJ68OAx2hKqe2C875yFwESpGHzNBsgRWenHSP4pHsyAWS4CQ
The monoclonal antibody thing is a complete clusterfuck. Firstly, vaccination is far cheaper and more effective than monoclonal antibody treatment. Secondly, the availability of m-antibody treatment is much less than the availability of vaccination. Thirdly, the dissemination of cutting-edge therapy is usually measured in decades. I know, that’s totally fucked, but take for example the prevention of diabetic blindness preventable with the use of ACE inhibitors. It took at ten or more years before diabetics with retinal disease were routinely treated with these medicines – long after the benefit was established. Last, but not least, docs working in the hinterlands have their hands full just trying to keep the sick alive; a lot of modern medicine, keeping the alligators at bay, is simply inaccessible to those who are trying to drain the swamp.
Anyone who is genuinely interested in surviving the COVID apocalypse needs to get vaccinated ASAP and practice public health measures like masking and distancing. If one gets infected despite scrupulous adherence to these measures, then antibody therapy is Plan B. We simply can’t look to antibody therapy (or even anti-viral therapy a la Merck) as an alternative to vaccination. That’s just stupidity.
I had to put mid-term grades in this week. I have to put in what they’ve earned and entire sections of classes have failing grades because they’re out with the Rona. This will come as a surprise to those students who don’t really have COVID and are declaring they’re sick just to get a vacation. It’s a reprieve, not a free pass.
Professor, what a sad state of affairs – both for the students who have fallen ill and for the feckless fucks who think that they can ride on their coattails. Sigh.