With virus emergency declarations ending, hopefully we have learned
Looks like the COVID-19 pandemic is ending not with a bang, but a whimper. That is unless state and federal officials are going to have a major fete, complete with fireworks, come spring to celebrate the conclusion of emergency declarations.
President Joe Biden first announced the end of the coronavirus public health crisis in late January. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker followed suit last week, coming after the federal proclamation ending COVID guidelines May 11, more than three years after the virus introduced itself and interrupted our lives.
Pritzker was ahead of the curve back then. In March 2020, there had been 11 confirmed cases and no deaths attributed to the virus in Illinois. Two days later, the World Health Organization labeled the novel coronavirus a pandemic.
Pritzker was criticized for his statewide edicts, but voters last year appeared to be satisfied with his handling of the pandemic, easily electing him to another four-year term in the Governor’s Mansion.
It seems a decade ago, not three years, that Chicago area communities became veritable ghost towns in a summer which held so much promise. The governor’s emergency declaration for the outbreak ordered most of the state shuttered as the virus — whose name was debated — spread rapidly, mandating the wearing of masks in public.
The rush for personal protection equipment for first-responders and front line workers is in the rearview mirror. We can all breathe a sigh of relief, even though many moved past the pandemic phase some months ago.
Despite the official announcements, the virus and its variants and mutations remain among us, still infecting loved ones, friends and neighbors. The governor reiterated that when he lifted the emergency directive in Illinois, the last state in the Midwest with a remaining virus disaster declaration.
“Let me be clear: COVID-19 has not disappeared,” Pritzker stated. “It is still a real and present danger to people with compromised immune systems — and I urge all Illinoisans to get vaccinated or get their booster shots if they have not done so already.”
With the end of the emergency orders, gratis vaccines — like the bivalent booster that offers protection against both the original COVID-19 virus, as well as the Omicron variants BA. 4 and BA. 5 — for the majority of the population may not remain free. The jabs are expected to cost insurers or those without health insurance.
Unlike the Spanish flu of 1918-20, the coronavirus has not vanished completely. Health officials tell those of us who believe in vaccines will likely have to get an anti-COVID booster annually, just like getting a seasonal flu shot.
Statewide, there have been just over 4 million diagnosed cases of the virus, with 36,167 deaths. Nationally, there have been more than 102 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and more than 1.1 million deaths. Globally, there have been 6.8 million deaths caused by the virus.
Many of those deaths were preventable. Widespread free vaccinations, the wearing of masks and the use of convenient at-home test kits helped keep the virus at bay for most of Illinois.
According to the IDPH, more than 75% of state residents are considered to be fully vaccinated. More than 83% have received at least one dose of a vaccine to combat the virus.
However, only 15% of Americans nationwide have received updated boosters. Many still doubt the effectiveness of vaccines, and refuse to get them or stay up to date with them.
Over the span of three years, we figured out effective ways to protect the populace from COVID-19. Hence, the president and governor see the pandemic certainly winding down.
Experience is the best teacher. Hopefully, we’ve learned from this outbreak how to deal quickly with the next pandemic, or continued mutations of the coronavirus. Lives remain at stake.