Covid is over – NOT
Understanding the sickness three and a half years after a global health emergency was first declared.
The World Health Organization declared covid-19 a global health emergency on January 30, 2020. More than three years later, at the beginning of this May, the WHO said the emergency was over. People have generally been ahead of the WHO, though. Mask-wearing had already decreased to only a few individuals, and people have generally returned to pre-pandemic group behaviours. And yet the covid situation is by no means over.
My first case
This past month, after five covid vaccines and scheduled for my sixth injection the next day, I came down with my first case of covid. I took a rapid test and saw two red lines saying I was covid positive. Fortunately, due I suspect to my repeated vaccinations, the sickness was mild; I had one day of discomfort, a few days of brain fog, and ten days of staying home. My wife tested positive but had no symptoms.
My experience with covid was one of a rash of cases in our local church, including the pastor and many members. Our church attendance was markedly reduced the following Sunday, but electronic service attendance (over Zoom and YouTube) was high. Welcome to the new covid reality, and thanks be to God that we can worship electronically!
Persisting questions
More than three years in, our scientific knowledge about covid is steadily increasing. Currently, the composition of the covid vaccine is being discussed by governments. The virus has mutated multiple times, and the original vaccine is no longer effective. Should the new vaccine target the current, most common covid virus, XBB.1, or multiple strains, including Omicron and others? The single-strain vaccine is thought to be better for its variant but more focused, while a bivariant vaccine may be less effective against each variant but provide broader protection. I am happy to see this discussed and trust that doctors who know more than I do will make a reasonable decision.
We are also getting a better understanding of what may make the disease more severe for some. Age, other medical problems, and a compromised immune system are key factors in covid severity. But genetic factors also seem to predispose some to more risk with this disorder. There are also suggestions that while the more recent variants of covid spread more quickly, they may also result in less severe illness. The data is complicated, however, because many people have had covid and have been vaccinated, making current cases harder to ascribe simply to the current virus.
There are also many things about this disease that we would love to understand better. Many questions center on long covid. How many people develop this long-term disorder? Is it a single disorder with multiple symptoms, or are there different variants of this problem? What can be done to help these long covid sufferers? If people get covid a second time, are they more or less at risk for long covid?
While covid seems to be with us for the long term and yearly covid vaccine injections may be necessary, the tools to work with this disorder are much better now than three years ago. We can thank our Lord that science has given us these tools.
