February 2023
By Richard Fleming
If you are tired of hearing about covid-19, I get it. I’m tired too. Isn’t three years of this pandemic enough? A brief look back into history justifies our frustration. The deadly 1918 influenza pandemic lasted only two years. Two! Going further back, the Plague of Justinian which killed millions lasted from 541-542. One year.
OK, I can hear my historian friends starting to grumble about selective facts and confirmation bias. I grant you the Black Plague lasted seven years. But it took place in the 1300’s, long before we had a scientific understanding of infectious diseases.
In these early years of the 21st Century we understand a lot about viruses. We know how to reduce covid’s spread. We have effective therapeutics for those who become infected. Nonetheless the pandemic persists. It is too early to look away. Especially for us seniors. While mortality figures have dropped substantially, hundreds of people in the U.S. continue to die from covid every day. Thousands get sick enough to require hospitalization.
It is notable that the proportion of covid-19 deaths among seniors is higher now – in 2023 – than at any previous time during this pandemic. In the first year 80% of covid deaths occurred in those over age 65. Today it is 90%. And seniors are being hospitalized at four times the rate of the general population.
Black and Latino seniors experience even higher mortality. In California, for example, covid deaths among Black seniors are about 30% higher than would be expected if deaths occurred equally among seniors of all races. For Latinos, covid deaths are about 80% higher. These differences have nothing to do with biology. They are due to social and environmental factors. People of color have less access to healthcare services. Their work and living situations often put them at disproportionate risk of acquiring this virus. And informed, relevant communication to communities of color about prevention and treatment options has been inconsistent.
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Although opinions vary about many aspects of this pandemic, everyone agrees on one fact: covid hits the elderly the hardest.
Yet this basic truth has not led our society to follow simple, easy steps to counter the virus. A significant current of public opinion feels wearing a mask in public indoor spaces and staying updated on vaccines is asking too much. It is too big a burden.
Loud voices angrily denounce covid prevention measures. They shrilly push a political agenda, not public health policies. These voices mock expertise. Their subtext is clear: if covid is culling the herd, that’s not necessarily bad. After all, folks in their 70s, 80s, and 90s are close to dying anyway. Maybe the Social Security Trust Fund will last longer if we let more current recipients move on.
Thankfully, not everyone feels this way. But there is significant sentiment that the time for small sacrifices is over. Personal freedom and individual liberty trump community welfare. Especially the welfare of those who have lived in the community the longest.
Where does this leave us? With the clear understanding that when it comes to covid-19, boomers bear the biggest burden. And for many people this is just fine.
If I seem a tad irritated you are reading me correctly.
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I acknowledge that seniors bear some responsibility for the increased problems we face from the pandemic. We have not all stayed up-to-date with vaccines. Not all of us wear masks while shopping. We sometimes go to indoor gatherings where unmasked people are milling about in close quarters. We need to be more careful. We need to be more cautious.
But I also want to ask folks of all ages to be more careful. More cautious. And more compassionate.
I have always put a premium on empathy. It is one of the most beautiful human traits. I try to understand where other people are coming from. But I am befuddled by why so many people seem unwilling to take small steps to help protect others.
When I’m in our local grocery store, three years into this pandemic, roughly 75% of the seniors and 2% of the young people are masked. People of all ages are coughing into their hands, sneezing at their sleeves, and standing close together in the checkout lines. This creates a covid playground.
I do not spend much time on social media. But when I read comments about covid on FaceBook or NextDoor, many say something to the effect of, “Leave me alone. If you’re afraid of the virus, then you can wear a mask.”
I know of several people in my age group who were themselves very careful and took all the right precautions. But they acquired covid from young adult family members who probably caught the virus at a party or a bar. The older family members became very sick, and I know of one who died. Of course the young people felt horrible. But their empathy arrived a little late.
I wish everyone would understand that when it comes to a still-lethal virus spread easily by respiratory transmission, we are all in this together. No one is an island. We are a community. And as a community, are we willing to tolerate losing the equivalent of a plane load of seniors every day? Are these deaths an acceptable cost to preserve some tarnished liberty?
Is it unreasonable to ask folks at low risk of complications from covid to think about others? To consider the health and the lives of those at higher risk?
Do old people matter?
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An excellent, moving, informative post, Richard. Thanks for sharing these thoughts and sentiments.
“The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.” -Stalin
Historically speaking, this modern “plague” might have been cut much shorter if we had simply let it run its course; but the price would have been an even greater loss of life in a shorter period. Our efforts have saved many and softened the blow , but that has come with an unfortunate, but more acceptable , economic cost .
In a world of 8 billion people, who have been strained for three years of mask wearing and expenditure of huge amounts of money and effort that have helped save lives (but have also created an economic vacuum of inflation), our choices and expectations are more limited going forward.
The issue may not be a diminishment of empathy but an acceptance that life is not fair and equal. Average lifetime length may be shrinking as a reflection of not just the impact of Covid but of a lifetime of personal and collective choices of diet, exercise, exposure to toxins, etc. that impact our immune resiliency. In any case, sustaining an anguished empathy for such a long time cannot help but be a bit numbing.
There are many variables in the complex equation of mortality and health, and many of the critical points were determined long ago through unconsciously made choices, unforeseeable accidents, or genetic variations. All we know for sure is that none of us will last forever, and how we accept our mortal limits as well as those of our loved ones ( let alone distant strangers) may be our most important personal choice at this point.
It is clear that we cannot sustain the high level of (emotional or )monetary expenditures which have also contributed to an inflation rate that is threatening the fixed income retirement standards we hold dear.
Empathy for our condition and that of our fellow travelers gives some comfort emotionally to do what we can and to accept our physical limits.
Yes, senior lives matter. But, when viewed from a distance, we tend to see the statistics more than the individuals. So, it requires a bit of emotional risk to be vulnerable enough to care. But, I think it is worth it and even necessary.
Bravo Richard! You should send this one along to the NYT or Washington Post op/ed departments!
Belatedly, I’ll say that this was an illluminating if sad commentary, Richard. I recall the mask debates in Benicia a couple of years ago, and how resistant one City Council member in particular was to mandating this important public safety measure and very minor inconvenience for use in stores.
As for what’s going on today: I’ve begun flying again, and only see a smattering of masks in the airports. Even in our local supermarket Raley’s, I’d say the percentage wearing masks is similar: perhaps 5-10 percent at most.
For that matter, as much as the Biden Administration has improved over its incompetent (and worse) predecessor in terms of handling the pandemic, the CDC remains deficient in its communication skills.
Enough griping. And thanks again for the post.