Por BRIAN SCHRADER<\/p>\n
The news has been filled with a lot of doom and gloom lately, but on our first and hopefully only lockdown-iversary, we actually have cause to be a bit optimistic. We know more now than we ever have about how to fight COVID-19, and we\u2019re on the final leg of the race to end the pandemic. Sure, there\u2019s still reason to worry \u2014the COVID-19 variants are concerning\u2014but it\u2019s also important for us to realize just how far we\u2019ve come.<\/p>\n
For starters, we have a number of effective vaccines and most appear to remain effective against the new variants of COVID-19 that are gaining steam. It\u2019s hard to remember now, but last year the FDA and CDC were hesitant to claim that we\u2019d have even one 50% effective vaccine by year\u2019s end. Today we have multiple highly effective vaccines being actively distributed and even more awaiting approval. This is nothing short of a scientific miracle.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re also at the end of a holiday surge. That means that hospitals are no longer overflowing, and that businesses and schools can start to reopen. This is all really good news.<\/p>\n
On the therapeutics side, between last year and the present we\u2019ve learned better strategies to treat severe cases of COVID-19 and we have a number of effective approved treatments.<\/p>\n
More importantly though, our vaccination efforts are going really well. I won\u2019t pull punches. The county took too long to start vaccinating in large numbers and too long to open the superstations but I also will not deny: The current results of San Diego County\u2019s vaccination efforts are impressive. Nationally, about 14% of Americans are vaccinated (at time of writing), and California is at about the same rate. At the same time, San Diego County has a vaccination rate of over 19%. That\u2019s a nearly 36% improvement over the state and national average. If that rate continues to grow, San Diego will achieve a localized herd immunity much sooner than the state as a whole. This is incredible, and the county deserves due credit for making it happen.<\/p>\n
In other good news, the United States is now vaccinating faster than the virus is spreading. Obviously, this will only continue to be true if we mask and social distance \u2014 and that can change depending on the prevalence of the new variants \u2014 but for now we\u2019re outpacing the pandemic. If we can keep ahead of the spread of COVID-19, we\u2019ll not only save lives and improve the timeline to herd immunity, but we\u2019ll also dampen possible future surges from more contagious variants.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of reasons to be upset with how we\u2019ve handled our response to the pandemic\u2014I\u2019ve written about a few of them\u2014but we shouldn\u2019t ignore the fact that the sun is beginning to pierce the clouds. We\u2019re actually winning this war. President Biden has promised anyone who wants a shot will be able to get one by the end of July, and the New York Times is projecting that we could reach herd immunity by mid-to-late summer if distribution rates continue to improve. This is all a huge deal.<\/p>\n
None of this means we can let up on the gas. We must remain vigilant; we all need to continue to wear masks, get tested, and practice social distancing for now, but there is light at the end of this tunnel. There will probably be a surge of cases as the more contagious variants rise to prominence. As long as we keep following guidelines and precautions, and keep vaccinating, that surge will but the last gasp of a tragedy that will finally be behind us.<\/p>\n
Stay strong. We\u2019re almost done.<\/p>\n