"A daily count of COVID deaths is news. But the ~1% mortality rate isn’t."

Which translates into a mountain of death even though the individual risk is small. But since individualism is in the ascendancy, we have trouble seeing that masking and even vaccination are things we should do as a species, to protect each other. Instead it’s “My individual self is at small risk so fuck that!”

It’s all about me, me, me.

So I had my sister telling me, “So you don’t have to get vaccinated” when I told her I’d had COVID-19. I was on my way out the door so I didn’t have time to explain* that I was already vaccinated, so it was a breakthrough case, and as such very mild. Still I got my booster. It’s still a deadly disease. If it were not there wouldn’t be so many dead people. The numbers still favor my getting these safe, effective, and free (to me) vaccines. In addition, do I not owe it to my species?

*not did I wanted to, so I was happy to have the excuse. I really don’t enjoy talking to my Trumpy sister, who is not vaccinated, so I worry about her. She’s still my sister. I remind myself that her individual risk is small.