COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Pollster]

I am a fully vaccinated (including booster) individual who lives in a liberal city, voted for Joe Biden, works in Democratic politics, and holds left-of-center views on virtually every issue of substance. And I am beginning to notice a pattern.

The size and scope of the pandemic starts dying down and things look good. The news cycle is dominated by issues of divisive passion like the latest trial of a racist police officer, the most recent act of mass violence, drama on Capitol Hill, and new developments in the gaggle of investigations into Donald Trump (I've lost count). Then, news of a new variant emerges.

This new variant is bigger/badder/stronger/more infectious/more transmissible/more of a threat than the last one. Concern grows as the latest letter of the Greek alphabet to enter circulation becomes the #1 topic of discussion. Some days later, reports pop up that all of the available vaccines work on this new variant, but not as well as they worked on the last one. The CEO of Pfizer appears on television to announce that his company's vaccine offers robust protection against the new variant.....BUUUUUTTTTTT you'll be safer if you get one more shot. The heads of the other vaccine makers quickly release similar findings. The US government and many governments around the globe quickly place orders for additional shots at whatever price point and profit margin the pharmaceutical companies name, not even flinching at the cost due to the high demand for vaccines in the midst of the public health crisis we are all facing. Countries that can't afford and/or don't have the infrastructure to distribute the shots are not as lucky. And don't even get me started on the companies that make the tests.

Then, the conversation shifts. Politicians with a (D) next to their name fiercely encourage vaccination and the taking of measures to end the pandemic and return to their abstract perception of normal. Politicians with an (R) next to their name challenge the science, dismiss the vaccine, and decry measures to end the pandemic as an attack on their abstract perception of freedom. They flock to the media outlets that share their political positions to spout their talking points, and the American people do the same to receive them.

Wide majorities of the country get vaccinated, but the efforts of the politicians and media attempting to dissuade from vaccination are effective at keeping just enough people unvaccinated that the virus is able to persist, much to the chagrin of the vaccinated. This persistence requires measures like mandates and closures that are unpopular among both the vaccinated (who blame the unvaccinated) and the unvaccinated (who blame the politicians the vaccinated support). Underneath the psychological surface, liberals get to continue to wear masks and talk about getting/tell people on social media to get the vaccine solely to virtue signal and express perceived moral/intellectual superiority, and conservatives explicitly defy these same things solely to virtue signal and express perceived moral/intellectual superiority. This keeps both groups angry at each other, and more importantly, keeps them willing to vote for the politicians/patronize the media outlets of their chosen party. And the unvaccinated population (as well as the countries that can't afford/distribute the vaccines) lie in wait to churn out the next variant that will restart the cycle.

All the while, the pharmaceutical companies continue to rake in record breaking profits, a portion of which go to the campaign accounts of the politicians who do the handiwork: those with a (D) next to their name who maintain high demand for vaccines so more profits can be made, and those with an (R) next to their name who ensure the pandemic will continue so more profits can be made. Another portion goes to advertising their other drugs and medications on the same media outlets that give the politicians microphones.

And of course, as those with wealth and power play this psychopathic game (a condition increasingly prevalent among those who seek and serve in positions of power, especially elected ones), the bulk of the world suffers from a pandemic that has caused unknowable amounts of death/suffering and subsequent mourning, and has brought potentially permanent trauma upon a global working and middle class (especially those in positions that lack the potential for the virtue of working from home like healthcare workers, teachers, food service workers, and mail/package carriers, among others).

Perhaps the saddest part is that these working and middle class people all across the world - lacking the ability to miss work to stay home and stop the spread, lacking the platform and reach with which to persuade large numbers of unvaccinated people to get a shot, and lacking the money and capacity needed to produce and distribute vaccines in poor nations - are the most at risk in the pandemic and simultaneously the least empowered to end it.