The assumption we can’t talk about

For the safety and comfort of our members, visitors, and staff, the following public health measures recommended by the CDC are in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

Face coverings are required indoors for all guests who are not yet fully vaccinated* against COVID-19

Face coverings are no longer required for guests who are fully vaccinated*

Face coverings are not required outdoors for guests regardless of vaccination status

These same face covering policies apply to all staff members and third-party vendors

*Per CDC guidelines, a person is considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after receiving the 1-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or 2 weeks following the second dose of the 2-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Notices like this one have surfaced in many public venues. I lifted these “COVID-19 Guidelines” off of the home page of Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio, east of Cleveland. My wife and I visited there over the weekend. (It’s a beautiful place, if you’re nearby. The photos with this blog were taken there.)

The notice includes one huge assumption: Those who are not vaccinated will continue wearing masks, on the honor system.

Yeah, right. I don’t have to tell you how likely that is.

Trust is gone

About half the visitors to the arboretum gift shop wore masks while we were there. I didn’t ask any of the maskless whether they were vaccinated – I know better. They ranged from a preteen with his dad (neither wearing a mask) to three female senior citizens, one with a cane.

My point: We cannot trust people to follow the rules.

Sorry to offer such a downer when the pandemic seems to be easing. I sincerely hope we are beyond the worst of it.

But those who have refused to follow the rules since the beginning of the pandemic (and they are legion) see the new rules as liberating, despite the fact – yes, fact – that the new rules don’t apply to them.

Unvaccinated individuals still are “required” to wear face coverings indoors in many places.

For example, I wish Annie Black was an anomaly, but she’s not. The Nevada state legislator was stripped of her voting and speaking privileges last week after an anti-mask protest that violated the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines. She refused to say whether she has been vaccinated.

“Trust me, this ain’t over,” she wrote in a newsletter to her followers on Thursday.

“I will not back down,” she tweeted on Friday.

COVID-related orders ending June 2

Sports stadiums soon will fill all their seats, with masks – and, obviously, social distancing – no longer required. The state of Ohio will drop all COVID-related health orders on June 2, meaning venues such as 35,000-seat Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, can fill all of those seats all summer.

I’m not ready to attend a Major League Baseball game just yet. I’m not convinced all 35,000 people are COVID-free. I hope we are beyond the stage where another surge is possible, but we’ll see.
Many of the people wearing masks in public now are vaccinated, like I am, I’ll wager – but again, I’m not asking. I don’t want to start a fight.

I am fully vaccinated, so the CDC guidelines are more about principle to me.

At least some people without masks are not vaccinated.

I don’t trust you. Not at all. You are more concerned with your personal “freedom” than you are with the health of the nation.

I hope I’m overstating this, and that I’m speaking to only a few of you.

But if you had followed the rules a year ago, the pandemic would be long over by now. Of that I am convinced.

Face coverings still in style

I am not the only vaccinated individual who will continue to wear a mask at times.  Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said there’s “no shame, no problem” for vaccinated individuals to continue wearing masks.

Will I wear one past June 2? I don’t know. In crowded public places, I probably will. Will I in the grocery store? Maybe. I’ll keep a mask in my pocket, for sure, and will put it on if I feel uncomfortable.

Masks proved effective in virtually eliminating the flu season last winter. I’ve heard a few of my friends say they will wear masks next winter for that reason, even if the COVID pandemic is history by then.

Avoiding airborne toxins

Smoking tobacco products has been taboo for many years. Why? We don’t like breathing in toxins from other people.

We can see cigarette smoke. We can’t see a toxic virus.

Is that the difference?

Smoking, of course, is not illegal – and I’m not saying it should be. But it is banned in most public indoor spaces. For good reason.

If those public indoor spaces require a mask for basically the same reason – to prevent the spread of toxins that can sicken us or worse – then we should honor that requirement, even if it’s not state law.

If you want to smoke, go elsewhere. If you refuse to wear a mask, shop elsewhere. You already do the first thing; it’s time to do the second thing.

If the pandemic is on its last legs, that’s because many of us now are vaccinated. To encourage even more people to sign up, our governor has instituted a $1 million lottery to encourage adults to get vaccinated, and four-year college scholarships to encourage young people to sign up. It seems to be working.

If the state instead offered, say, 10 prizes of $100,000 each or 100 prizes of $10,000 each, then the lottery would see more winners. But we like big numbers, don’t we – even though the odds of winning drop dramatically. Gov. Mike DeWine was right to institute one big prize, because that’s what draws us in. That’s what gets the headlines.

If that’s what it takes to get us over the hump vaccination-wise, then it’s a smart move.

COVID is still out there. My parents live in a senior living facility in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and, according to its most recent newsletter, every resident there has been vaccinated. Still, last week a staff member was diagnosed with COVID.

The newsletter then makes this statement:

Please see this as a reminder that COVID 19 is still active in the area. We need your cooperation.

It’s not over. I’m not ready to attend a baseball game with 35,000 people just yet.

I understand that life involves risk. But there’s no point in risking my life when I don’t have to.

The difference between facts and discovery

We’ve learned a lot about COVID-19 in the past year. There’s still much we don’t know.

That’s it. That’s the point right there. Both of those statements together. We can’t separate them.

Even though many of us try.

I recently had this Facebook conversation with a friend of a friend (my comments are in italic):

A covid discussion

Covid is very real. You do know that, right?

I have lost one acquaintance and have another that had a stroke because of it and now is paralyzed on his left side. Yes I know it is real. Does that mean we should all live in constant fear of a virus that has a 99% survival rate and almost a 100 rate for the young? Let us get back to normal quickly. This is what happens when we let government be responsible for our health. This is not freedom. We used to have freedom of choice.

It’s not fear, it’s real life. 30 million Americans have had covid – 10 percent of the population. Last year we did not focus enough on senior citizens, which are affected disproportionately. My cousin in South Carolina says you don’t mess with high school sports there; as a result, that’s how covid spread through schools. That’s not fear. Vaccines should help immensely. Until then, masks and social distancing are necessary.

As of now, our seniors should be vaccinated and so should those with preexisting conditions. Why are we still locked down in CA and NY? Depends on which state you are talking about as to whether they focused on seniors or not. Give me one good reason to wear a mask after getting the vaccine or after having Covid?

Because people can get covid more than once. Because the virus is still out there. When enough people (whatever that number is) get the vaccine, hopefully we won’t need to wear masks any more. But we aren’t there yet.

If the vaccine is effective why are we to wear a mask? There has been so much crap about this virus that has proven to be untrue. Fear has us giving up so many freedoms. It is sad to see so many people kowtow.

You don’t know the difference between fact and opinion. There is very little about the virus that is untrue. Since we “discovered” the virus a little more than a year ago, we have learned much. This is science. This is discovery, if you are paying attention. We wear a mask because many people like you refuse to wear one unless forced to (right?). As I said, the virus is still out there. It has nothing – nothing – to do with fear and freedom. Stop fighting it, and face reality. No shoes, no shirt, no mask, no service. Bite the bullet for a short time, and we will get through this.

I do realize the virus didn’t just go away. Why does the government have the right to tell us what we can do for this long? When did the governors become dictators? What states have the worst death rates? The number of rules that have been made about Covid that have been proven wrong is astounding. Florida was going to kill all its people by opening up. Did they? Are the death rates in open states higher than in closed states? Is hydroxychloroquine dangerous? I am sorry but I have lost all trust in a dictatorial government

Covid is a worldwide pandemic, not a U.S. government conspiracy. The world does not revolve around you. There’s a much bigger picture here. We just celebrated Easter. I don’t know about your faith, but our common friend has a strong Christian faith, so you might as well. I’ve never understood why Christians reject everything Christ taught when dealing with covid. It’s a pandemic. That is fact. So, let’s work together to get through this.

The bigger picture

This friend of a friend misses the bigger covid point. It’s not only about death – even though the United States leads the world in that category. It’s about suffering and the potential long-term effects of covid.

For a month, our local newspaper has been running article after article telling stories of covid sufferers – including some who are young. Its effects can be debilitating.

Scientists don’t know why it ravages some people and not others. Some people ignore covid and don’t get it; some take all the precautions and still get sick. Life isn’t fair. For sure.

Some get over it quickly; others do not. Again, life isn’t fair.

That’s why I’m getting the vaccine. I’m not immune, nor do I want to be a carrier. (I’ve had the first shot; I’m scheduled for the second one later this month.)

It’s not about truth and falsehood. It’s about learning and discovery.

Because covid is a worldwide pandemic, scientists have studied, learned and discovered much very quickly. It’s a major priority. Don’t write this off.

Studies have shown the vaccines to be extremely effective. The effects of covid are far worse than the effects of the vaccine. This is known and documented, by science and real life stories.

Is the vaccine fool-proof? Of course not. What is, in this life?

I’ll take my chances with the vaccine rather than the disease itself. You should, too, if you haven’t already.

The more of us who do this, the faster we can get through this and get back to our new normal. It’s not rocket science.

It’s science of the Earth.

From lockdown to vaccines in one year

One year ago this week, our lives changed. Overnight and dramatically.

Schools closed. Many businesses, especially small businesses, also were closed – some never to reopen. (Those that have reopened look very differently today.) We were ordered to stay in place, and wear masks when we left home.

Since then, more than 29 million Americans have suffered from COVID-19 and more than half-a-million of us have died, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports.

There are 330 million people living in the United States today. That means almost 10 percent of us have had COVID in the past year.

In mid-March 2020, we thought the virus would disrupt our lives for a couple of months. A year later, it still does.

Abrupt change

In my first COVID-themed column, I compared the then-new disease with Lent, the Christian season before Easter:

We decide for ourselves how to respond to COVID-19. There are public responses which we are asked to support – stay-in-place, go to the store only when necessary. The virus spreads very rapidly. People are dying from it. The curve has not flattened yet, at least not in the United States.

The worst likely is yet to come.

Will we submit to our leaders?

That’s what Lent is all about. Submitting to a higher authority, the living God.

Today, all of us get to do that.

This life is not about us. Some of us are having a difficult time grasping, or accepting, this.

But it’s true. The world existed before any of us was born, and it will continue after all of us depart this Earth.

Over the past year, how well have we submitted to our leaders – and how well have our leaders led?

Volumes have been written, and still are being written, on those questions.

What’s become painfully obvious to me over the past year is how we disdain authority – nearly all authority. Governmental, political, religious …

By governmental, I mean government employees, elected leaders (federal, state and local), the police …

We don’t like change. We abhor it, in fact. We fight it with everything we’ve got.

Even during a pandemic.

Good side effects

Has anything good happened in the past year?

Yes, plenty of good things have happened – and continue to happen.

The flu was basically nonexistent this winter. Masks and social distancing had a wonderful side effect with influenza and other viruses, in addition to curbing COVID-19.

On March 13, 2020, I posted this on my Facebook page:

If any of my local friends need help with child care, I’m available most days. Yes, I’m a man saying this. I’ve passed multiple background checks (the most recent this week through my church).

A single mom took me up on that. I had the time, she had the need, and we connected – and still do today.

I don’t say this to pat myself on the back. Many people found creative ways to serve others over the past year – delivering food boxes, assisting in nursing homes, teaching students over Zoom (how many of us even knew what Zoom was a year ago?), checking up on neighbors, keeping in touch with texts or phone calls …

These things will continue even after we return to “normal.”

Science works

Scientists from around the world worked at a feverish pace, literally, to discover a vaccine that could prevent the disease from spreading, as well as to seek treatments for those who got sick. Because the disease affects people so differently, treatment has proved difficult, but there are options.

The CDC so far has authorized and recommended three vaccines to prevent COVID-19, and all are available in varying amounts: from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

In our state, my wife and I became eligible for a vaccine in the past couple of weeks. We both have registered and are waiting for an appointment. My parents live in a senior living facility in a different state, and both have received their shots.

I am healthy and not in many of the at-risk groups for catching the virus. Still, I’m not immune. And I could be a carrier even without knowing it.

There’s plenty of misinformation out there about the vaccines. From the CDC:

Can a COVID-19 vaccine make me sick with COVID-19?

No. None of the authorized and recommended COVID-19 vaccines or COVID-19 vaccines currently in development in the United States contain the live virus that causes COVID-19. This means that a COVID-19 vaccine cannot make you sick with COVID-19.

Further down on the same page is this:

Is it safe for me to get a COVID-19 vaccine if I would like to have a baby one day?

Yes. If you are trying to become pregnant now or want to get pregnant in the future, you may receive a COVID-19 vaccine when one is available to you.

There is currently no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination causes any problems with pregnancy, including the development of the placenta. In addition, there is no evidence that fertility problems are a side effect of any vaccine, including COVID-19 vaccines.

Like all vaccines, scientists are studying COVID-19 vaccines carefully for side effects now and will continue to study them for many years.

A year ago, the focus was on preventing the disease from spreading. That’s why governors locked us down for a couple of months.

Today, the focus remains on slowing the spread of COVID – but we have effective vaccines to do this, so we don’t need to return to lockdowns. The more of us who can get the vaccines, the faster the disease will be controlled.

It’s that simple.

The CDC has authorized and recommended all three vaccines now in circulation. Let’s do our part and get one of them.

It’s been a year.

March Madness is under way. Last year, it was canceled. Let’s keep the momentum going.