The End of the Tunnel might be easier to predict if someone were to define what that means?
Okay, I will elaborate. Apparently, many people have different expectations of that light.
Is the light the eradication of COVID? Or is it reaching a point where we can move from hiding inside to dancing in the rain? Or someplace between the two? Four months ago, people might have said the light was the creation of a vaccine. But then with that done, we moved the light further out.
One thing that COVID has taught me is that predictions on health issues is about as predictable as weather forecasts. Except while it rains when it should not, in this case there is sunshine where it wasn’t believed possible.
We have gone from predictions of 3 million dead this year to less than 400,000. Predictions of 36 months to develop a vaccine to 7 months.
Predictions of a 5% mortality rate to something much, much smaller.
Predictions that normal life activity like eating out and the gym can’t continue without geometrically increase the contracting rate, to what some evidence suggests “might” not be true; time and cooler heads will come to the truth on this in time.
Prediction, masks don't work. New prediction, they do. I hope that is true as it give me one thing that I can personally control to make things safer.
Predictions that the vaccine roll out will be a cluster-you-know-what or impossible because of the sheer magnitude, to what appears so far to be reasonably done.
Prediction, it will take 90% of us being vaccinated to reach heard immunity. New prediction, maybe its 70 percent.
Predictions that there will not be enough refrigeration to a reality that might be quite the opposite (thanks to some forward thinking). Again, time will tell.
First a prediction of 2 years to get the vaccinations done, now we have a prediction of a year to have enough vaccinated to do any good. If history repeats itself, then that period of time might be less.
The next prediction is that this sort of thing is increasing in frequency. So, we have maybe 3 years before we get hit again with a new one. First, I have trust that every country will reevaluate their biological experiments and how they control the safety experimental labs. And hopefully no matter what country it springs from that country will have learned from this and be more forthcoming with information to help the rest of the world prepare. Finally, we have to ask ourselves, if the prediction is correct and this becomes a reoccurring phenomenon can we endure shutting down the world for a year every three or four years?
I am an advocate of preparing for the worse. So, the predictions provided a benchmark for the worse. Without that incentive, maybe we would not have a vaccine now. But I am also an advocate of maintaining hope and positive thoughts and dealing with reality as that reality becomes evident. Especially when reality is a blessing. The reality of the vaccine existing is a blessing and all those that made it happen deserve our appreciation and respect.
My light at the end of my tunnel is when all the high risk 1A, 1B and 1C have their first and second dose. The rest of us, statistically, will live and essential personnel will be on the front lines as opposed to home sick in bed. Then life can go back to go back to a functional state. Maybe not the original state, but functional. That is my light.
Perfection is a goal, but still impossible. To blame anyone in this whole horrible situation for not achieving perfection requires that one look at their own life first. The efforts and intent of everyone involved to date have been good and more than proper.
