We are all sick of it and even hearing about it. COVID became because news in North America back in March of 2020. It started a few months before that, origin point China, but it started affecting lives big time in North America in March. To me, the date that really struck home was March 11, when professional sports leagues started shutting down.

It is now 27 months later and people are sick of wearing masks, sick of hearing about getting boosters and sick of hearing about it. Our guard is down.. Anti vaccers have been screaming about having to wear masks and about vaccine mandates. Anti vaccers are small in number but their voices carry. Influencers like Donald Trump and Pierre Poilievre keep shouting “freedom!”

WE have gone through a number variants including different Omnicrom variants. There is now the BA.5 variant, that while present for a relatively short period of time has become the dominant variant in North America. It is “super” highly transmissible. It has mutations that make it easier to infect cells and to slip by immune defenses. It is so new that it is still unknown as to whether it causes a higher degree of severe illness than the earlier Omnicrom variants. What is known is that the number of recorded cases are skyrocketing, hospitalizations are rising rapidly as are deaths, especially in long term care homes.

This is the summer time. Right now there are, in the US, over 110,000 recorded cases per day and 350 deaths per day. People who had COVID as recently as January of this year are catching it again. This is not even close to flu season, yet. Our guard is down and we hear the strident anti vaccer voices constantly. People who received vaccines and boosters do have a better chance of surviving these new variants. But they/we are still at risk. I have received one booster, six months ago, and I am hoping my province allows me to be eligible for a second booster soon.

All I can say is just be vigilant. We might be in for a rough ride this winter, hopefully not. Oh, and, there is a new variant, the BA.2.75 variant, with even more mutations, that has just now raised its ugly head.