Face Our Fears: COVID-19 protections are all but a thing of the past
I have been in the minority for the last five years wearing a mask in public spaces, testing for COVID-19 whenever I didn’t feel well, isolating when sick and receiving the vaccine each year it was offered. I know how lucky I am to have privileges like access to masks, vaccines and tests. I know many people can’t afford them and they aren’t accessible to them.
But I also know that many people don’t mask because of social insecurity or have been told they aren’t effective in slowing the spread of disease. I have been ridiculed many times online and in real life for wearing what some called “a diaper” on my face.
I shrugged and wore one, anyway, because I know repeat infections — even in healthier individuals — can increase my chance for long COVID. I also don’t want to spread anything to people I love.
I received the vaccine whenever it was updated to help prevent the likelihood of catching COVID-19 over and over again. We know that while it doesn’t fully prevent COVID-19 because of the ever-changing spike proteins, it still reduces your chances of contracting it as well as reduces chances for severe disease, hospitalization, death and long COVID.
I have interviewed several people with long COVID, and it was not something I wanted to mess around with — especially in a country without universal healthcare, paid leave or social safety nets that allow you to recover from illness without fear of losing your home.
When Trump was running for president, I knew that he didn’t give a FUCK about COVID-19. And frankly, Biden didn’t seem to care much about people’s health, either. But at least Biden wasn’t actively dismantling our scientific institutions that do care about COVID-19, how it is mutates, ways to slow the spread and how to eventually find a sterilizing vaccine. I took great comfort reading journal article after journal article over the past five years from scientists, researchers and medical professionals who were working towards solutions. I interviewed scientists and doctors who kept saying the following:
Vaccines work. Get the vaccine when you are able to.
N95 and KN95 masks work. Mask in public spaces, especially during travel or in crowded indoor areas.
Test 48 hours apart when you think you may have been exposed and test 2-3Xs over the course of several days.
Isolate when sick for the full ten days or until you have two negative COVID-19 tests in a row.
Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. Wash your hands again.
Rest, rest, rest! That seems to help reduce the chances for long COVID — at least in some people.
But there was always this nagging fear in the back of my mind about what would happen if Trump came into power. And here we are.
According to NPR: FDA says the new approach with limiting the vaccine balances flexibility and rigor
"The FDA's new Covid-19 philosophy represents a balance of regulatory flexibility and a commitment to gold-standard science," wrote Prasad and FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary, in the journal article. "The FDA will approve vaccines for high-risk persons and, at the same time, demand robust, gold-standard data on persons at low risk."
This doesn’t make any logical sense. We know that the vaccine uptake has been embarrassingly low in the United States. With practically everyone having the opportunity to get the vaccine, according to The New England Journal of Medicine, over the past two seasons, uptake of the annual Covid-19 booster has been poor.
Less than 25% of Americans received boosters each year, ranging from less than 10% of children younger than 12 years of age in the 2024–2025 season to 50% of adults over 75 years old.
So if the uptake is so poor, why would it be necessary to even reduce people’s ability to protect themselves that much further? No one is forcing them to get the vaccine. So why this and why now?
Reality Check: This is eugenics.
I do not believe that Trump is working in the best interest of the American people and I don’t believe that RFK Jr. or the people who have been appointed around him are either. This policy will cause harm. More people will die without access to the vaccine. More people will become disabled. This is a way to cull the herd.
Anyone — including “healthy people!” — can suffer a stroke, heart attack or other terrible outcome because of a single COVID-19 infection. The vaccine is safe for the vast majority of people. To limit people’s ability to protect themselves when we have absolutely no other protections offered or afforded to us by the government is cruel, unnecessary and dangerous.
What are we going to do in five years when people have had COVID-19 five, six, or ten 10 times? What about 15 times? When people can no longer work because they have become disabled by this disease? None of these issues live in a silo. We refuse to mitigate against COVID-19, just like we refuse healthcare when people can’t afford it, just like we refuse paid leave so people can’t recover, just like we refuse a living wage so people can’t eat, just like we refuse affordable housing so people can survive.
The United States needs to come to terms with the fact that we are and always have been a work-til-you-die culture and your productivity is the only thing we care about. COVID-19 exposed us as a culture who doesn’t care about one another.
Well, I refuse to accept that. And you can, too.
You can still submit a comment HERE by May 23 to ask the FDA and the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) Meeting to:
Ensure an updated COVID vaccine by the Fall of 2025
Recommend updated COVID vaccines for all ages
Strengthen our vaccine drive by recommending more frequent boosting (at least every six months) and more frequent updates to the vaccines
Ensure vaccine manufacturers anticipate future dominant strains of SARS-CoV-2.
(If you need a template, the
has a great one to use!)We keep each other safe. We demand that our vaccine program be robust, accessible and free to all who want it. We demand that our elected officials implement policy that improves indoor air quality, offers free masks and tests for anyone who wants them and provides paid leave and universal healthcare so that everyone has a chance to thrive.
We the people demand more. And we deserve it.
Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.
In solidarity,
Natalie
Thank you for being a part of my growing community on Substack. I’m truly thankful to everyone who subscribes (1,175 as of this post!) and to my paid subscribers, a special shout-out to you.
Share this post