COVID is not a respiratory virus: it’s a vascular disease caused by a respiratory virus.
“Learning to live with” a highly transmissible, contagious, fatal and morbidity-causing airborne vascular disease, and one still causing thousands of deaths per week, is a statement that defies logic.
How do we learn to live with a virus that changes our vascular endothelium without accessible and viable treatments, and disability support to millions who experience its long term effects? Why should any of us accept “learning to live with” a vascular virus that doesn’t have a known prognosis (Alzheimer’s at year 6 post recovery? Connective tissue disorders at year 2?) when treatments are close to coming into view?
Why give the virus the ability to mutate and set back our progress?
We’ve learned to “live with the flu” for decades, with countless lives lost and lives disabled as a result. We made such a choice out of ableism and healthism, not grasping that a simple health measure could’ve helped us to *not* have to live with the disruption of life and health from the flu.
But do you know what the past 2 years of masking has done for the influenza virus? It’s slowed the rate of spread, slowed the rate of mutation, and in ways, given humans an upper hand on avoiding the reactive (versus proactive) mindset of “learning to live with the virus”.
We don’t have to learn to live with a viral pathogen when we have time, effective public health measures, and a chance at increased medical innovation on our side.
The laziest, most inhumane thought is that “we have to learn to live with this virus”.
That’s a washed-hands-clean mentality that makes sure that we will continue to live with, die with, and live in chronically ill perpetuity with the pathogen. It’s the privileged, uncreative and compassionless response to what is instead an opportunity to advance our societal and medical systems for the betterment of all.
If you use that statement, please know that what you’re asking to “live with” is something that we can learn to live without, given patience.
We can learn to live with masks in crowded locations: THAT we can learn to live with, without major losses across humanity.