The Trump COVID-19 Legacy

Even as the heavily conservative U.S. Supreme Court rejected the last Trump “election fraud” appeals, erasing any legitimate claim to a stolen election, the newly configured “all things Trump” Republican Party, at least as that is reflected in Congress, is lashing out on so many levels. Gone is the semblance of a pro-average-American-worker support as this pandemic moves to a new phase. Still lingering is the marginalization of the seriousness of COVID-19, amplified by the evolution of new vaccine resistant strains of the virus, and the inane desire by mostly red states to undo months of effective preventative caution by lifting mask and social distancing mandates.

The notion of a “plateau” of COVID cases is touted as “success,” even as that “plateau” simply accepts an on-going “acceptable” level of new infections and additional deaths. There are assumptions in the electorate that we are on the verge of herd immunity, and that the virus is nearing total containment. Not true!  We are even watching as that new Brazilian strain, P.1, seems to be able to infect folks in Brazil who have been inoculated or recovered from the virus. We are racing against a hostile clock. And if we do not get a handle on this plague, it could linger in one form or another for years, changing how we life dramatically.

The notion today is that we really need to get over 80%+ of our population either having recovered from a bout with COVID-19 or having been vaccinated to generate that much sought-after herd immunity. That’s at least Dr. Anthony Fauci’s assessment. But the resistance to getting vaccinated seems to suggest that 80% is not remotely achievable. “[Polls] have repeatedly found that nearly one-third of Republicans share [a] staunch resistance to the coronavirus vaccines, although for a variety of reasons. Some… worry they were developed too quickly. Others argue without evidence that many vaccines are unsafe or will make them sick. Still more echo Trump’s repeated contention that the coronavirus threat is overblown and simply don’t trust the government’s involvement.” Washington Post, March 8th. 

Pollster KFF’s COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor (February 26th) reports: “changes in vaccine enthusiasm across partisans, with large gaps in enthusiasm remaining between groups. Between December and February, there was a large increase in the share of Democrats who report being vaccinated or wanting to do so as soon as possible (from 47% to 75%) and a more modest increase among Republicans (from 28% to 41%). A substantial share of Republicans remain more resistant to getting vaccinated, with 28% saying they will ‘definitely not’ get the shot.”

The problem with leaving a large proportion of the world’s population unvaccinated, not just within the United States, is that it gives the COVID-19 virus time to mutate to resistant strains. The virus mutates constantly, thousands of times to date, but only certain mutations pose serious challenges. The strains that so far concern scientists have developed in the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Northern California and Oregon. Enough for a number of countries to band together to update existing vaccines and to create possible booster shots for those who have already been vaccinated. 

Acting together, the UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore and Switzerland plan to fast-track modified COVID-19 vaccines so they can tackle new variants more swiftly. You will notice that the United States is not on that list. We’re still struggling to get our first dose vaccinations out, facing large numbers of people, from a small number of misguided anti-vaxxers to skeptics in minority communities – see my February 10th Skepticism Born of an Ugly Betrayal blog – and that bloc of red state voters, who simply refuse to get vaccinated.

Because most of the new vaccines focus on teaching your own body to attack COVID-19 viruses by showing them a protein that has been designed to look like the shape of the virus (the surface shape with no internal toxicity), they are among the safest – have the fewest severe allergic reaction and zero impact on the body’s genetic makeup – in recent vaccine history. Yes, there are very short-term reactions that can include fever and chills, after vaccination (usually after the second of a two-shot regime), they actually show that the vaccine is working. A little Tylenol or the passage of a day or two will clear it all up. Compare that to a COVID-19 infection, where even a mild or apparently symptomless infection can create a lingering tail (PASC) of pain and discomfort. This isn’t a game, and there’s no “I take that back” once infected. For those who resist getting vaccinated or continuing safe distancing practices, they can achieve a new status among their peers: super-spreaders. 

I’m Peter Dekom, and the politicization of a medical issue has created an amazing amount of continuing death and infection that simply refuses to fade away on its own.