Vaccines don’t mean we can throw caution to the wind as fourth wave looms
After almost two months of consistent decline, West Virginia is starting to see a spike in daily new COVID-19 cases. We reached a devastating high at the beginning of January when two days in one week brought us more than 2,400 and 1,700 new cases, respectively, but steadily brought the transmission down until we hit our most recent low, around 155 new cases March 7. But since then, the trendline has been angling up, and our new daily confirmed case count has been consistently over 300, with one day about a week ago nearing 600.
West Virginia and the nation are staring down the barrel of a fourth wave as people and state governments take the arrival and distribution of vaccines to mean the pandemic is over.
It isn’t.
Too many people are banking on herd immunity to protect them from contracting the virus or believe COVID won’t be fatal for them if they become infected. But a year into this pandemic, researchers are finding that just because COVID doesn’t kill you, doesn’t mean it will leave you unscathed.
A study out of the UK is finding that 7 in 10 people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 haven’t fully recovered five months after their discharge, and 1 in 5 people developed a new disability. Out of 1,077 people surveyed, 90% had at least one persistent symptom (such as shortness of breath or fatigue) and most had an average of nine continued symptoms. The researchers are calling this “Long COVID,” and while it affects a variety of people who were hospitalized with the disease, it seems to impact white, middle-aged women the most. And as the national 65-and-up population receives its vaccines, we’re seeing a growing trend of younger people falling victim to the coronavirus, particularly in the 20 to 59 age range (20- to 29-year-olds make up about 18% of West Virginia’s cases, but 30-39, 40-49 and 50-59 are at 14% each).
The study isn’t peer reviewed, so its findings should be taken with a grain of salt, but it does give us insight into what many of us have seen and heard anecdotally: COVID can ravage a person’s body, leaving behind long-lasting damage even after the illness has technically run its course.
This is something we must keep in mind as we face the probability of a fourth wave, even as we’re desperate for things to return to normal. Pandemic fatigue is real, but so are the far-reaching effects of the coronavirus.
That makes it all the more important to get the vaccine if you are able to. The age limit has been lowered to 16, so all adults are now eligible. If you can’t get an appointment through the DHHR, try Walgreens or other local pharmacies and doctors’ offices. You’ll likely have to check repeatedly and frequently for openings, but it will be worth it.
Even once people are vaccinated, we still need to be careful and to take precautions, such as wearing a face covering in public and minimizing gatherings, because, unfortunately, a vaccine is not a 100% guarantee you can’t get COVID. We must continue to be cautious, at least for a while longer.
The finish line to this pandemic is in sight — we must not stumble now.
