COVID 19: Context
Johns Hopkins University and Medicine map
For context, the number of American deaths from wars that the US has participated in throughout American history sums to nearly as much death as a result of COVID 19 as with each American war combined. The chart below from the same source shows that the US experienced approximately 1,304,253 war-related American deaths total.
As of 1-7-23, the COVID 19 has killed 1,095,235 people in the US, making it comparably as deadly to the US than all our wars combined. COVID 19 and all its variants make and mark the disease as becoming normalized, endemic. Meanwhile, breakouts remain possible, and resistance to vaccination alongside apathy and carelessness maintain COVID 19’s relevance as a dangerous disease.
Another contextual element is comparing COVID 19 to influenza (the flu). Simply put, the flu and COVID 19 are incomparable when it comes to deadliness. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, COVID 19 deaths causes possibly 10 times more deaths per year than the flu, marking a clear distinction between these viruses. The severity of COVID 19 should thus encourage critical thinking when comparing COVID 19 with other viruses, illnesses, and pandemics.
Get Vaccinated
We have immediate access to vast amounts of reliable, verifiable research on vaccinations and the COVID 19 vaccination. The rapid pace of developing a COVID 19 vaccine is unprecedented and may reasonably form doubt. However, while the pace remains unprecedented, they are nevertheless reliable – a reality made clear when with basic understanding of the context and circumstances through which the capacity for rapid development became possible and then made actual. Here is a source regarding the development of mRNA vaccines, specifically in reference to COVID 19 vaccines.
If you’re doubtful or curious about vaccines generally and specific to the COVID 19 vaccine, you can explore ample, reliable research here. Additionally, if you’re doubt stems from (or if you’re simply curious about) historical adverse effects of vaccines, explore this page.
If you’re doubtful or curious about COVID 19 vaccinations specifically, see this. While you’re free to navigate the page on your own, you can find information on possible side effects of the COIVD 19 vaccine here, a list of myths vs. facts about the vaccine here, and an FAQ page here – all of which are reliable, researched, and trustworthy texts.
Doubt with vaccines, inoculations, and public health in general notoriously stems from historical misnomers. Reasonably, anti-vaccination perceptions form mostly from misinformation and ignorance, but like all stereotypes and conspiracies, there is some truth to those misperceptions. However, if unable to access a research library or are short on time, consider these more casual though reliable podcast discussions on American social, cultural, and moral panics, including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (in two parts) and the Anti-vax Movement in the US.
You’re Wrong About: “Tuskegee Syphili Study Part 1: The Lie”
You’re Wrong About: “Tuskegee Syphili Study Part 2: The Truth”
You’re Wrong About: “The Anti-Vaccine Movement”
While vaccinations are the best means of keeping yourself and your loved ones out of the hospital, alive and well, we should try to sympathize with those who remain doubtful and concerned despite the abundance of research and certainty regarding the COVID 19 vaccine. Many of us who are vaccinated and/or boosted often struggle to understand those who continue to refuse the vaccine. This opinion article from the New York Times explores the often-dismissed yet real doubts contextualizing non-vaccinated people’s concerns about the COVID 19 vaccination (which should not be confused or conflated with the anti-vaccine movement).
Masks, Tests, and PNA’s
Considering how COVID 19 is becoming endemic, the use of masks has more to do with the occasion than prevention. As many news sources have explained, we should think of masks to COVID 19 as we think of umbrellas to rain: we wear a mask when COVID 19 is spreading more (medium or high Community Level) as we wear a rain jacket or pop an umbrella when it rains.
Guidance on why, how, and where to wear masks
Efficacy of masks studying both exhalation and inhalation
Casual and historical podcast discussing the history of masks
Get Tested
If you are exhibiting potential COVID 19 symptoms, get tested.
Having had COVID 19 or tested for antibodies does not mean that you are immune to being reinfected, and it certainly does not mean that you’re exempt from spreading the virus. This is worth repeating: having antibodies does not mean you are immune. Be weary of sources conflating antibodies with immunity.