July 26, 2021

As of July 19, 2021, the United States has lost 609,000 people to COVID-19. Cases are rising in every state. Some hospitals are beginning to run out of room in the ICUs again. This is starting to feel like the early days. Only it's worse this time because there are three good vaccines free and readily available. People are turning their noses up and scorning the very miracle they prayed for.

I am equal parts heartbroken for the people who will die from this Delta variant and irate with those who refuse to be vaccinated. They caused this. I'm also concerned because it will be nearly impossible to get people, particularly Americans, to mask up again. Collectively, we were ornery about it the first time, but now that Pandora's box has been opened and we got the OK to unmask (even though that was just for the fully vaccinated), it is not likely to happen again.

For technically not being alive, viruses are smart, and they learn fast. They understand and study the immune response in preparation for the next step in their evolution. We are living on borrowed time, and it is only a matter of time before one of these mutations emerges the vaccines will not work against.

Perhaps, what is the most frustrating and disturbing are the amount of health care workers who won't take the shots. If they won't set the example, we are all going to suffer for it. On the news tonight, they were thinking we could be facing upwards of 4,000 deaths per day by October. That's just two months and change away. It's horrifying to think all the progress that has been fought for will be lost in such a short span, and we could be posting numbers reminiscent of the darkest, worst days of the pandemic.

All of this is set against the backdrop of the Tokyo Olympics, which are being played despite a big COVID surge in Japan, and schools will be returning to session in a matter of weeks for my county and the neighboring ones. Unfortunately, but not at all surprisingly, my county and the state of Tennessee have abysmal COVID-19 vaccination rates that were hovering in the neighborhood of 30% (fully vaccinated) at last check.

The bottom line is we have got to do better. These circumstances create the perfect storm for COVID to rip through us like the wildfires out West. Will we be left to burn, or will we rise from the ashes of the past year by learning from and owning up to our mistakes? I don't know just yet, but I certainly feel the heat...