70 years ago our grandparents were asked to put the common good ahead of their own interests. They did, and the resulting defeat of fascism saved our world and preserved and enshrined our ideals.Over 15 million Americans served in the armed services. Others worked in munitions factories. But the vast majority of Americans contributed through personal sacrifice. They endured and accepted rations and price controls on everything from meat and sugar to clothing and other commodities.
There were complaints, certainly. And corners cut by some.Nonetheless, working together they persevered, and in the process learned that with a common goal and shared commitment anything could be accomplished.
They’ve been called the “Greatest Generation.”
For better or worse, we have not faced such a defining moment since.
But we are clearly facing one now.
We are met with a threat of such dire consequence that our very lives and the lives of our children depend upon our making its defeat our common priority.
But unlike our forebears, we are not being asked to do anything more than roll up a sleeve. Even doing that is not a guarantee that mutations of the COVID virus won’t spring from other unvaccinated regions of the globe to render our current best efforts futile in the long term.
But, this is a war.
And we must win every battle as it is joined.
We cannot surrender without a fight.
We can’t let misinformation and distrust cloud our minds and disarm our soldiers (in this case, our health professionals.) We can’t lose this war.
No thinking person wants to suffer those consequences. The Delta variant is not the first, and it won’t the last mutation of the virus.
It will continue to find hosts among the unvaccinated where it will get stronger, more deadly, and more contagious.
Our children, not as much at risk with the original iteration of the virus, are now in its sights. The transmission level of the virus is now on par with that of chicken pox.
By percentage, one in twenty of those who’ve been vaccinated are likely to have a “breakthrough” infection, and although they are not likely to be hospitalized and even less likely to die, they are potentially able to pass the virus along.
Hence the need for masks around those who are at risk or may have unvaccinated children or immune-compromised in their immediate circle.
As to the unvaccinated…This virus is mutating to target YOU.
The odds are high that you will eventually be infected. You may be asymptomatic, or you may get deathly ill.Either way, you may harbor the virus, giving it an opportunity to mutate further and become the weapon that loses the war for all of us. This is not the spread of fascism in the 1940’s, which another generation answered with an almost Herculean effort and shared sacrifice. This is potentially even more devastating.
And all we need to do is to stop being self-involved, cynical, and conspiracy-minded.
For all our sakes, roll up your sleeves and get vaccinated.