This week, I did not post Dr. Klotman’s BCM video address – it was but a holiday greeting, and I have started thinking that maybe the “This Week in COVID” series of blog posts has outlived its usefulness. Nonetheless, I did visit the CDC website today to see if there was anything new to report on the COVID front.
From what I can see, humanity and SARS-CoV-2 have found a modus vivendi – even if an uneasy one. COVID has become part of the viral background to which humanity has become inured – some of thru vaccination, others through disease-acquired immunity, and a few million through death.
Regarding vaccination, the CDC reports that 10% of eligible young children and slightly fewer children 18+ years of age have been vaccinated with the most recent COVID vaccine. Among adults 65+ years old, the prevalence of vaccination with the latest vaccine is no higher and about half of that for the 2023-2024 vaccine. Sigh, how soon they forget.
The history of Influenza A pandemics is that they occur about every ten years – give or take. You may remember these as the Hong Kong Flu, the Swine Flu, and the H1N1 pandemics. It would not be surprising if we see a few years of sporadic COVID activity and then see another COVID pandemic. It would be par for the course.
Meanwhile, I and my boomer cohort are getting no younger, no less vulnerable, and no less immune responsive. I would suggest that getting a COVID vaccine kick in the pants regularly during the years between now and the next pandemic is probably prudent.