Hope springs for near-normal times -- again -- March 24, 2022 column

By MARSHA MERCER

We attended a concert last Saturday. The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra performed in a nearby church, and we walked over with neighbors on a mild spring evening.

It seemed like the Before Times – except that nearly everyone at the sold-out event wore masks and was supposed to be fully vaccinated.

I tried to remember the last time I’d sat in a room full of people, listening to live music – or, for that matter, in a church. The coronavirus robbed us of so many shared experiences we once took for granted.

Bach and Vivaldi are good for whatever ails, and the Ukrainian folk song the orchestra added to the program was haunting. I blinked back tears.

After two years of isolation, cancellation, fear and death, people are venturing out again. Concerts, festivals, sports and spring break travel are back. Thousands of maskless visitors swarm the Tidal Basin in Washington to enjoy the cherry blossoms.

And yet, while Putin’s vicious war in Ukraine has kicked the pandemic off the front page, the pandemic is not finished with us yet.

The orchestra’s website carries this dose of reality for concert attendees: “You understand that you may contract the virus . . . you agree that you understand the risks of COVID-19 exposure, the potential consequences of exposure, and you voluntarily assume the risks of attendance.”

Besides that, enjoy the show.

The good news is COVID-19 cases have declined significantly in the United States, although about 1,000 people every day die of the insidious disease. Most at risk of hospitalization and death remain the unvaccinated.

 With cases low and people out and about, it feels like the hopeful days of last spring, when President Joe Biden proclaimed a “summer of freedom.” Prematurely. Summer brought the deadly Delta variant. Then came Omicron.

Today, about 35% of new coronavirus cases in the United States are attributed to the new, highly transmissible Omicron subvariant known as BA.2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It seems to cause less severe illness than previous strains, and vaccinations and boosters help immunity, although their effectiveness does wane.

We’ve not yet seen a surge in BA.2 cases as is occurring in Europe, and it’s not certain we will. The World Health Organization Tuesday blamed the increase in countries like Britain, France, Germany and Italy on their lifting COVID restrictions too “brutally.”

Most places here have also ditched mask requirements, and social distancing is mostly a memory. High-profile positive COVID-19 tests make news: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and White House press secretary Jen Psaki, among others.

Almost everyone I know has -- or has had -- COVID-19. Thankfully, their cases have been mild. No one can predict what mutations lie ahead or how they’ll affect us in the moment or later.

The Biden administration wants Congress to approve $22.5 billion in emergency COVID funds to purchase more vaccines and treatments. A second booster for those over 65 may be available this spring, but the administration says it lacks funds to stockpile enough boosters and treatments for everyone, should they be needed in a fall surge.

Republicans contend unspent, previously allocated COVID relief funds should be used first. The administration says it is difficult to redirect such funds.

Each person can order free, at-home COVID tests online. A household is eligible to receive two sets of four tests. Check out https://www.covidtests.gov/

Former CDC director Tom Frieden wrote an essay in The New York Times Tuesday titled, “The Next Covid Wave Is Probably on Its Way,” arguing we should use this lull to prepare.

First and foremost, get vaccinated and boosted. Some 60% of Americans are not up to date on their COVID vaccinations. That’s 15 million seniors at higher risk.

If you are older, have an impaired immune system, or are around people who do, wear a good, well-fitting mask, such as an N95, Frieden advises. In addition, communities should also monitor for coronavirus in wastewater, as they do for polio and other diseases, to detect outbreaks sooner and stop the spread.

“For now, most of us can enjoy the warm spring sun on our unmasked faces. But we can also do a lot more to control COVID,” Frieden writes. “How we play it will determine what happens next.”

Take care.

©2022 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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Masks, vaccines turn classrooms into battlegrounds -- Sept. 2, 2021 column

By MARSHA MERCER

This Labor Day weekend, my candidate for Worker of the Year is a professor who quit.

Irwin Bernstein, a psychology professor at the University of Georgia, walked off the job Aug. 24 because one of his students refused to wear a mask properly in class.

“That’s it. I’m retired,” Professor Bernstein reportedly said and left.

Bravo, Professor, for drawing your personal red line and for your long run in the classroom. Bernstein began teaching in 1968. He is 88. That’s not a typo.

He retired in 2011 but returned to teach part time. This school year he was teaching two classes.

But Bernstein has Type 2 diabetes. His age and other health problems put him at higher risk for complications of COVID-19.

It’s not too much for him and other teachers in the nation’s classrooms to expect their employers to follow the guidance of public health authorities and require masks and vaccinations.

The University System of Georgia offers vaccinations and encourages masks inside campus facilities -- but does not require them.

So, Bernstein adopted his own “no mask, no class” policy.

Two of his students missed the first day of class after having tested positive for COVID-19, the student newspaper The Red & Black reported. On the second day, 25 students in Bernstein’s seminar did wear masks, but one student refused to pull the mask over her nose, saying she had “a really hard time breathing.”

Bernstein asked her twice. An Air Force veteran, he said he risked his life in the military but wouldn’t do so during the pandemic.

Bernstein’s last stand came as the delta variant is ravaging the country.

The daily average of hospitalized COVID-19 patients topped 100,000 over the last week, the highest level since last winter, The New York Times reported.

Hospitalizations nationwide have risen 500% in the last two months, primarily in the South, and intensive care units are reaching capacity. About 1,000 people a day are dying of COVID in the United States, the most since March, the Times said.

With such devastating numbers, mask and vaccination mandates in schools and universities should be welcome.

And yet, anti-maskers and anti-vaxers, spurred by irresponsible Republican politicians, still complain that requiring a mask or vaccination is an infringement of their personal freedom and rights. Critics of mandates complain of “tyrants,” and worse.

Some flout the rules with appalling consequences. Consider a case from California the Centers for Disease Control reported this week.

In Marin County, an unvaccinated elementary school teacher removed their mask while reading aloud to the class last June and half the pupils, who were too young to be vaccinated, got COVID-19. Removing the mask was against school rules.

And yet, as students return to schools and campuses this fall, classroom conflicts are spreading.

The Republican governors of Florida and Texas have fought school districts that have imposed mask mandates. The federal Education Department is investigating whether five states that have prohibited mask mandates have violated the civil rights of disabled students.

At least 16 states have statewide school mask mandates, according to tracking by the Times. But that doesn’t always matter to misguided local officials. A rural school district in Oregon just fired its school superintendent because he followed the state guidance and required masks.

Virginia requires all students, teachers and staff in K-12 schools to wear masks indoors, even if vaccinated. Most colleges and universities in Virginia also require vaccinations and masks.

Virginia Tech disenrolled 134 students and the University of Virginia disenrolled 238 who failed to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19. It’s unknown how many of these students had made other plans for the school year.

Fortunately, with full approval of the Pfizer vaccine, more employers – including governments at all levels -- are requiring vaccinations as a condition of employment, with a few exceptions.

That’s good news. Few teachers or other public employees can afford to say, “Take this job and shove it.”

Universities and schools that hold in-person classes, especially where children are too young to be vaccinated, should protect everyone involved with vaccination and mask mandates. And they should get community support when they do.

©2021 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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One war ends badly as another escalates with hope -- Aug. 19, 2021 column

By MARSHA MERCER

Images of the fall of Afghanistan and the resulting chaos as tens of thousands of Afghans desperately try to escape the Taliban have shaken many Americans. How, after 20 years of war, could this happen so quickly?

Here at home, the delta variant tightens its deadly grip on the unvaccinated, overwhelming some hospitals and raising death tolls. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines show signs of waning effectiveness. How could this happen?

The short, unsatisfying answer in both cases is circumstances change.

But unlike in Afghanistan where the Taliban’s sudden takeover was a shock, the government insists it has a plan for the next phase of the war against COVID-19.

President Joe Biden and the nation’s health experts Wednesday outlined steps to pressure the 85 million Americans who still have not rolled up their sleeves to do so and to provide booster shots starting with the 150 million adults who are fully vaccinated with the Pfizer and Moderna.

The federal government already has vaccination requirements for federal workers and contractors, medical staff at veterans’ hospitals, active-duty military, reservists and National Guard. Biden now will require vaccinations of all workers who care for Medicare or Medicaid nursing home patients as a condition of federal healthcare payments.

Biden also extended until year’s end federal reimbursement to states for National Guard personnel engaged in COVID-19 emergency activities. He praised health systems, universities and private businesses that require vaccinations and urged others to follow suit.

And he took aim at governors who intimidate school officials over mask mandates, saying federal funds can pay school personnel, if needed.

Although vaccines were initially touted as a two-and-done shield from COVID-19, they were developed before the highly transmissible delta variant became dominant. Recent data indicate the vaccines still protect against severe illness, hospitalization and death. They are not as effective against delta as the earlier virus, though, and protection decreases over time. 

“Having reviewed the most recent data, it is now our clinical judgment that the time to lay out a plan for COVID-19 boosters is now,” Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told reporters. 

“The plan is for every adult to get a booster shot eight months after you got your second shot,” Biden said.

Pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control’s outside panel of experts, the booster program is slated to begin the week of Sept. 20.

At that time, adults fully vaccinated before Jan. 20 with doses from Pfizer or Moderna will be eligible for a booster. Health care providers, residents of nursing homes and long-term facilities, and the elderly will be at the front of the line. It’s likely those who received the single Johnson and Johnson shot will also need a booster, but authorities are waiting on more data to decide.

Only those with compromised immune systems are currently receiving boosters. The rest of us can safely wait, officials said.

The boosters will be free and given regardless of insurance or immigration status. The government intends to use the 80,000 locations in place to deliver the boosters. About 90% of Americans live within five miles of a vaccination site.  

Some medical professionals worry the dual track of persuading the unvaccinated to roll up their sleeves while providing boosters to the fully vaccinated may confuse the public. Some world leaders say the United States should not offer a third shot while many around the world have not had their first.

But the administration insists we have enough vaccines to inoculate those at home and abroad. The United States has donated more doses of COVID-19 vaccine than all the other countries in the world combined, Biden said, adding we have pledged to give away 600 million doses.

“The threat of the delta virus remains real. But we are prepared. We have the tools. We can do this,” Biden said.

At such a bleak time, it’s encouraging to see the government be straight about the latest data and adjust its plans based on changing circumstances. Doing so should help restore Americans’ trust in their government.

The government sets the strategy. Vaccinations, masks and boosters are our weapons. But each of us will need to take personal responsibility if we are to win the war on COVID-19.

©2021 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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`Month of action' lures with carrots, not sticks -- June 3, 2021 column

By MARSHA MERCER

Free donuts! Free beer! Free groceries! Free rides! Free childcare! Free college! Free cash!

Free guns! Wait. What?

The escalation of incentives to lure Americans to do something they should do willingly and gratefully rang the absurdity gong in West Virginia.

Gov. Jim Justice Tuesday announced his state would give away to lucky West Virginians who get vaccinated against COVID-19: two full, four-year scholarships to any state university, two new custom-outfitted pickup trucks, 25 weekend getaways to state parks, five lifetime hunting and fishing licenses, a million dollars – and, yes, five customized rifles and five customized shotguns.

Shaking my head.

Justice, a Republican who used to be a Democrat, acknowledged his state shouldn’t have to resort to such giveaways, but he said, “Unfortunately, it’s the way of the world today.”

And there’s a practical side to the vaccination nudge -- or bribe, depending on your point of view.

“The faster we get ‘em across the finish line, the more lives we save” and the more money the state will save on COVID-19 testing and hospital care for COVID patients, he said.

It’s sad the demand for vaccinations nationwide has plummeted so fast. Fewer than 555,000 people a day are getting new vaccinations now, compared with nearly 2 million a day in early April, the Associated Press reported.

In one sense, vaccinations may be the victim of their own success. COVID-19 cases are down more than 90% and deaths down more than 85% since January. Some people may feel they don’t need to get jabbed.

“The fact remains: If you are not vaccinated, you are at risk of getting the virus or spreading it to someone else,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

About 63% of adults have received at least one shot, but President Joe Biden’s goal of having 70% of adults fully vaccinated by July 4 appears in doubt. On Wednesday, he launched a “month of action.”

The campaign will include door-to-door canvassing, texts, media ads featuring celebrities, free rides to vaccination sites by Uber and Lyft, and free childcare for parents while they’re getting shots.

Black barbershops and beauty salons will help clients find vaccinations, which are readily available. Some pharmacies will stay open 24 hours on Fridays in June to give shots.

Krispy Kreme is giving away free donuts to the vaccinated. Some supermarkets are offering free groceries to customers who get vaccinated in their stores.

When the 70% goal is achieved, Anheuser-Busch promises a free round of beer to those 21 and older who are vaccinated and sign up on their website. 

The multi-carrot approach is needed because nothing turns Americans off faster than sticks – such as mandates. And it’s hard to counter the rampant misinformation on social media.

Some people fear side effects, but they typically are mild and far less scary than the unpredictable effects of COVID. For others, not getting vaccinated is a misguided political statement, although the former Republican president and his wife got vaccinated quietly at the White House.

“Getting the vaccine is not a partisan act,” Biden emphasized. The science was done during Democratic and Republican administrations, and the first vaccines were authorized under a Republican president and developed and deployed by a Democratic one.

“I don’t want to see the country that is already too divided become divided in a new way – between places where people live free from fear of COVID and places where, when the fall arrives, death and severe illnesses return. The vaccine is free, it’s safe, and it’s effective,” Biden said.

Reason and patriotism have gotten us only so far; now it’s time for blatant self-interest, largely paid for with federal funds.

Several states, including Ohio, New Mexico and West Virginia, have launched lotteries open only to residents who have gotten vaccinated.

Ten lucky vaccinated New York students Wednesday won full tuition, room and board scholarships to any State or City University of New York campus. The state will raffle a total of 50 free rides, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, adding each scholarship is about a $100,000 value.

Justice is right that incentives shouldn’t be necessary. But if they get us across the finish line to near normalcy, they’re a price worth paying.

©2021 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

 

Take me out to the (fill in the blank) -- April 15, 2021 column

By MARSHA MERCER

Some writers liken people emerging from the year of pandemic sequester to the hordes of cicadas that soon will pop up after 17 years underground.

It’s a clever analogy, though not particularly apt.

The billions of cicadas that are about to inundate the East Coast, including Virginia, have no say in their behavior.

To attract females, males will make a “cacophonous whining like a field of out-of-tune car radios,” a Virginia Tech news release said. The insects will mate and then die.

Humans who have stayed home for the last year may feel they’ve been in prison. Some not yet vaccinated assume the worst is over and are taking risks, despite reports that COVID cases and deaths are rising again.  

Unlike cicadas, people can choose their next steps. The degree to which unvaccinated people choose to be in close quarters with many others and how they behave elsewhere will shape the “new normal” for all of us.

Nobody wants to return to lockdown status, as some European countries have. Many of us long for connection and crowds. Others have been OK with less going out and having an excuse to enjoy events on screens. Most of us are a little of both.

Many music festivals and band tours are postponed to 2022, but some  organizations are moving ahead.

Major League Baseball returned with fans in the stands for the first time in more than a year. Games runs to Oct. 3. The Minor League season begins in early May.  

The Kennedy Center is betting big that people are ready to sit shoulder to shoulder in large halls and watch theatrical performances. The center announced Tuesday a chock-a-block schedule of 12 musicals, including “Hamilton,” two major plays and other events in 86 weeks of theater from Oct. 13 to August 2022.

Patrons must wear masks, but the center is selling tickets at full capacity, meaning “there will not be physical distancing within the venue, and you will have patrons sitting directly next to, in front of, and behind you,” the website advises.

Airlines are ramping up flights and filling middle seats, believing people are eager to travel again – at least to some destinations.

And yet, global waves of coronavirus infections from variants threaten our mobility. Canada reportedly has more COVID-19 cases per capita than the United States. India just announced 200,000 new COVID-19 cases. Bangkok reported a surge in cases believed to stem from lack of social distancing at nightclubs. Several African countries report strong vaccine hesitancy.

With the delivery of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine on hold here, herd immunity in the United States may be delayed. Officials believe herd immunity will occur when 70% to 90% of people have either been fully vaccinated or have antibodies from having contracted COVID-19.

My first outing to a big venue after being fully vaccinated came this week. I was among the 4,147 people who attended an Orioles game in person.

I wish I could tell you it was glorious to watch live baseball again -- and it was fun and diverting. The O’s beat the Seattle Mariners 7 to 6 with an exciting walk-off single by Ramon Urias.

But, honestly, it was also weird.

It wasn’t just that ticketing was digital, concessions were all cashless and no vendors lined the avenue into the ballpark. The Camden Yards ballpark was at 9% capacity, with most seats roped off to keep social distance. Bags were prohibited, I learned belatedly.

Masks were required and were supposed to be worn except when people were “actively eating or drinking” in their designated seats, although many fans interpreted those rules liberally.

Clearly, much effort went into making people feel safe. The Orioles Bird wore a mask with the slogan, “Mask up Birdland.” Orioles players have been vaccinated and are urging everyone to “Take one for the team. Get the vaccine.”

Guards, concessionaires and security personnel were friendly.  

“Welcome back,” guards said as fans entered the ballpark. “Welcome back.”

It’s one thing to attend an outdoor event with physical distancing and quite another to sit inside a closed hall or arena packed tight with people. Going back is a leap of faith.

But we’re on our way.

©2021 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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In the time of COVID, a shot of hope -- Feb. 11, 2021 column

By MARSHA MERCER

I got my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine this week and felt a surge of relief, gratitude and irrational exuberance.

Irrational because a first dose is just that. A second dose of the Pfizer vaccine is needed three weeks later for full effectiveness. Plus, we don’t know if someone fully vaccinated can spread the coronavirus.

I never expected to get misty over a shot, but I did. Months lost to waiting and worrying about COVID-19, the unpredictable, deadly disease that has upended all our lives, could be nearly over.

Millions of Americans are lining up every day and rolling up our sleeves to get something that literally could save our lives. We are so lucky.

Lucky all the pieces of the puzzle came together. Vaccines are available, and we trust them. We were able to sign up online, and we could get to a vaccination center at the day and time specified.

I pre-registered for a vaccination through the Alexandria Health Department one month and a day before I received the shot.

Yet not all Americans are lucky enough. People in rural areas who lack the Internet or transportation to a vaccination site can, and are, getting left behind. This must change.

At George Washington Middle School in Alexandria, kind and efficient medical staffers wearing masks and plastic shields took my temperature and asked the now-familiar screening questions about exposure to the coronavirus.

I received an orange slip of paper and stood in another short line in the gym until someone at one of the many tables waved me over with a green “READY” sign. After I got my shot, which I hardly felt, staff asked me to wait 15 minutes in case of allergic reaction. Like most people, I had no reaction at all.

“Your arm is going to be sore -- not right away. Probably tomorrow,” the nurse told me. “But that’s OK.” She was right. The soreness didn’t last.

The COVID-19 vaccination delivery system is finally working.

I also signed up online for my elderly dad who lives in Richmond. He got an appointment a couple of weeks later in January. The contact person said everyone on her call list was 88 to 99 years old.

I drove my dad to the center, and we were able to wait in the car until the shot came to him about 45 minutes after his appointed time. I was so grateful we didn’t have to use the wheelchair I’d borrowed – and grateful for the man who helped direct traffic and then went car to car, offering a prayer to each.

But vaccination delivery varies greatly depending on where you live. A friend’s mother has spent many hours on the phone, trying to book appointments for herself and her mother, who’s in her 90s. The experience left her in tears of frustration and anger.

More than 470,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, among them about 100,000 in the last month. Millions have lost their jobs and businesses. And yet, with the rollout of vaccinations, there’s hope.

The number of COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations nationally is dropping, though it’s still high.

President Joe Biden appears likely to meet his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days. About 1.5 million shots are being given daily, reported the White House, which is expanding doses and vaccination sites.

Experts say 70% to 90% of us need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, when most of the population is immune either through having had the disease or vaccinations. More outreach is planned to Blacks and Hispanics, who are wary of the vaccines.

As more people get vaccinated and tell their friends and family, others are more likely to want vaccinations, surveys show.

“Perhaps more important than any message is the impact of seeing a neighbor, friend or family member get their shots without any adverse effects,” Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said, releasing a KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey Jan. 27.

About half those who want to get vaccinated as soon as possible know someone who has already gotten a dose.

I plan to get my second dose when I can. I urge you to roll up your sleeve, too. We can do this. We must.

©2021 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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