Where we go from here on COVID-19

There is no doubt our society is in uncharted waters. The COVID-19 pandemic continues, with the strength of the new delta variant driving its resurgence after months of seeming relief. Conversations about vaccinations and face masks are reaching a fever pitch. My colleagues and I receive vitriol, insults and even threats for our support of public health measures that have been proven effective by numerous medical and scientific studies.

There have been setbacks, notably the delta variant’s increased virality puncturing the “armor” of vaccinations and infecting individuals, but statistics continue to show vaccines are saving lives and protecting public health. Most experts agree Connecticut’s high vaccination rate among those eligible, 20 percent higher than comparative states, has blunted the extreme impacts of this latest wave, at least so far.

Individuals are free to have their own beliefs. No one is arguing that. However, in recent weeks, our state has seen local government events disrupted by protesters using harmful, disruptive rhetoric. Anger and distrust against public officials has reached new highs. And, in all of this, rates of COVID-19 infection have increased significantly. In just weeks, the death rate from COVID-19 spiked from roughly three per week to three per day in Connecticut. In places with lower vaccination rates including the South, states are seeing overwhelming infection rates and death rates. Florida, for example, has seen a rolling seven-day average of more than 200 deaths per day recently.

I understand this situation is extremely challenging, and that no two people are struggling in the same way. It’s with a heavy heart I remember the pain and anguish that hit so many of us in these last 18 months. Individuals lost jobs, livelihoods, friends and family. We have been separated from one another, forced to behave in ways our society, and our species, struggle with. I know that Zoom calls and Facebook conversations are nothing compared to the human touch and connection we get from other people, and I know how powerless many felt in losing jobs, businesses and, in some cases, lifelong investments.

I also know the anguish and pain that comes when an individual loses their battle with COVID-19, and the pain their loved ones experience in turn. I myself lost my brother to the virus earlier this year, and have been forced to face despair. It is easy to think of our individual needs in times of struggle and difficulty, and everyone who acts on what terms are best for themselves and their loved ones deserves respect in making those decisions. However, that alone does not solve our issues.

If we are to get through this massive global pandemic and come through on the other side — not yet knowing what the future holds — we need to come together and fight this issue as one people. Understanding others’ needs is vital, but as important as our independence is, we must also understand how our actions impact others. Our interdependence as a society is as important as our independence. Our actions impact others. With so many still vulnerable, we must remember our brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors in our interactions, and take precautions like masking, as even low-efficacy masks can still serve a purpose and limit harm.

In my work caring for COVID-19 patients, I am seeing people in their 30s, 40s and 50s — far from the older ages we once assumed the worst outcomes were reserved for — who are in critical condition, requiring high levels of oxygen to survive. They cannot be vaccinated at this point and face a long, arduous road of recovery ahead.

I fear we will lose many more lives in preventable ways, all while we continue to lose faith in each other and our communities. All this while we have tools at our disposal to rid ourselves of the worst of it. A public health emergency that continues to be politicized only stands to separate us. We are suffering from a twin pandemic. COVID-19 is only part of the equation — we are also suffering from a lack of human connection and an inability to support each other. Vaccinations make our communities safer, but hundreds of thousands eschew them, some spreading misinformation about them to sow distrust. I can completely empathize with mask fatigue; I cannot empathize with that fatigue becoming anger, directed at people who are just as powerless to change things on their own.

As we near the 18th long, challenging, arduous month of this awful pandemic, I wish and hope that we can find common understanding, that we can come together and stand together in the face of this horrific scourge. To start, I only ask that we listen to each other, that we work to understand the anxieties, fears and emotions driving each others’ behavior. While we are all different, we all share a species. I fear our world will only deepen its suffering in the COVID-19 pandemic, but I hope beyond hope that we can still come together.