The world is anxious to get back to some sense of normalcy. More and more are asking, “When do we stop endless testing, wearing masks and other restrictions that go on with the COVID-19 pandemic and never seem to budge even though half the country has been given at least one vaccination shot? “
This has come to the forefront again with the Minnesota Twins having to postpone games over the weekend with positive COVID-19 tests with staff and players. It is frustrating for the organization because as Manager Rocco Baldelli said in his press conference Saturday that over 80 percent of the players and staff has been vaccinated, much of them with the one shot Johnson and Johnson brand the afternoon of the home opener on April 8th. That unfortunately was before the vaccine was supposedly supposed to take full effect, with the “experts” saying it takes two full weeks, but the “experts” are also giving mixed messages on what the vaccine will do for us.
When the doctors who appear on television often say, “Everyone needs to get vaccinated to get back to normal” but then also say, “You can still spread the virus if you are fully vaccinated, we just don’t know at what rate.,” it confuses the public. If that is the case, we should accept the fact then that no matter what, the virus will spread. Hopefully the amount of hospitalizations and deaths will be at a minimum, but knowing that it can still spread tells us that we need to learn to live with this virus as best we can.
The term ‘herd immunity” does not mean the virus will go away, it is about not overwhelming our hospitals and not having people die at a catastrophic rate. The vaccines should help that, but as KFGO news reported last week, hundreds of Minnesotans who are fully vaccinated have tested positive for COVID-19, some severely symptomatic, hospitalized and sadly six have died. Unfortunately not everyone will get an immune response to the vaccine or some of the variants will skirt by your immune system’s memory cells and antibodies for the original COVID-19 virus and get them sick.
Sports started the shut-downs in the country when the NCAA Tournament and NBA shut down in March of 2020. Sports can get us “back to normal” if Major League Baseball, NHL or NBA says, “We have most of our players and staff vaccinated, and knowing that you can still test positive after the vaccine, we are going to halt testing.” If someone is symptomatic, they shouldn’t come to work, but we need to move forward in hoping the vaccines work and our players will be healthy.” If they do that, society will follow. I’m not saying I still won’t get sick or die, as an overweight 48 year old the virus is still dangerous for me, so again I am not taking this lightly. If things go back to normal and it will be sad when some are hospitalized or perish, but at some point we have to move forward, especially for young healthy athletes. Living like this is unsustainable.
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