Last year at this time I wrote a blog asking if we were seeing the beginning of the end of Covid-19. The first vaccines were getting rolled out and we were all optimistic that the end was in sight. That hope was strengthened in the Spring, as we finally started seeing substantial decreases in the number of new Covid cases and associated deaths. But our high expectations were disappointed over the summer when the Delta variant made its appearance. And now we have Omicron to deal with. Thus, this scourge continues.
However, we now have a pretty good grasp on how we can limit the impact of Covid-19: get vaccinated, get your booster if you have already been vaccinated, wear masks when in public indoor spaces. These measures protect you and your fellow citizens. Yes, there are potential side effects of the vaccine—but the risk of letting the virus spread unchecked is far greater—to you individually and to our country as a whole. Don’t get your medical information from the internet—talk to your personal physician, who is better informed than the people who like posting their opinions online. These simple steps will have an impact on this pandemic and give us new cause for hope.
I am reminded of Winston Churchill’s statement after the British victory over Nazi forces at El Alamein in 1942: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Greg Koshkarian, MD, FACC