LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Don’t believe COVID is gone yet

Posted

To the editor:

It pains me to write this, but apparently I was wrong about my hope and expectation that COVID-19 would become far less dangerous in New York City as we went through the spring, summer and fall.

This new variant, which we’ve now seen in Britain, seems to be spreading rapidly here, and we’ve seen a marked upturn in infections in New York City. It seems to be even more transmissible than the original omicron — by as much as 30 percent — which itself was twice as transmissible as delta, although it doesn’t seem to be more injurious or virulent.

So folks who are fully vaccinated should, for the most part, be protected from hospitalizations and death. But it’s also true that the elderly, those with co-morbidities, those with compromised immunities, remain at greater risk. Data from tracking evidence in sewage confirms the arrival of this latest variant.

So we need to very carefully watch the numbers in forthcoming weeks, and use appropriate caution when it comes to masks and crowded indoor settings.

I checked the date of my booster, and realize that it was just six months ago, so I’ll be consulting with my physician regarding the advisability of seeking a second booster now. In Israel, they’re giving a second booster to those older than 65.

Congress just refused to provide the monies President Biden requested for continued COVID-19 testing, vaccines, equipment and supplies, medications, and the like. This isn’t the time to underfund our efforts to fight the virus across the nation, lest we allow rates to spike, and deaths to multiply.

And, as I’ve said before, if you’re not fully vaccinated, please correct this as soon as possible.

Norman Wechsler

letter, Norman Wechsler, COVID-19, New York City

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