2020, We Are Giving You the Boot

 Are you as relieved as I that 2020 is over? Like the uninvited guest that overstayed a visit, 2020 deserves to be booted out and have the door slammed shut behind her. Good riddance!

2020 was a year of heightened fear and pervasive anxiety. Life in the United States in the 21st century, for most Americans, has been underscored with a sense of comfort and invincibility. We know those in poverty live with the daily anxiety of not knowing where the next meal is coming from. Then George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement increased our awareness that many Americans of color – especially young, Black men – live in fear. But 2020 brought a level of fear and anxiety (not to mention death) to a majority of the country to a degree perhaps not seen since WWII. Fear got personal for most of us, in other words. Let’s hope that as the broad population starts to get vaccinated in 2021 and the economy picks up, that fear and anxiety (and the depression that may follow) can start to dissipate.

Last month in this column, I wished for a COVID-19 vaccination for Christmas, not believing that I would receive one that quickly. As it turns out, I got my first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 18, one week after its approval by the FDA. Just last night, I received my second and final vaccine dose. Within a week or two, I should achieve maximal immunity. I cannot tell you what a relief it was to get the first dose! Everyone else I talk to who has been vaccinated feels the same way. A weight was lifted off my shoulders. I started to be less afraid, less anxious. It may take time for all of us to recover from what I call PCSD – post coronavirus stress disorder – but we will get there.

Being vaccinated does not mean I can let my guard down yet. Even with vaccines with the very high success rate of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna (around 95%), 5% or more of people immunized may still get the virus. Mitigation measures like wearing masks and social distancing must continue for most of 2021 until we gradually can return to a pre-COVID routine, assuming enough people get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity in the population.

Now that healthcare workers are being vaccinated, who is next in line? The federal government has left it up to each state to determine criteria for vaccine distribution. In Texas, the first round (Phase 1A) included front-line healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Phase 1B is now in process, and that includes people 65 years of age and older as well as people 16 years of age and older with at least one chronic medical condition that puts them at increased risk for severe illness (such as cancer, heart conditions, COPD, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, transplant patients, chronic kidney disease, pregnancy, and sickle cell disease). More information can be found at dshs.texas.gov, including a Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Locations Map where one can find out where to go get vaccinated.

The overall vaccine rollout is not without glitches and controversy. Arguments have been made that the criteria for vaccine distribution and prioritization have not been established to maximize lives saved. And the desire to have 20 million people vaccinated by the end of the year was a gross overestimate (we vaccinated around 2.6 million). That being said, the vaccines are being manufactured, distributed and administered at a pace previously thought impossible; I hope and pray that everyone who is eligible to receive one will take it when their turn comes. 

Let me tell you what else needs to get booted out with 2020: our growing and disturbing willingness to tolerate and believe misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. There is a serious lack of deep reading and critical thinking today. Sound bites become “truth”, even when the facts prove otherwise. Those very facts are disputed – often viciously – if they come from any source other than one’s narrow list of preferred (and often biased) channels, websites, or Twitter feeds. We are losing the ability to have an honest discussion. Disagreement and dialogue can be constructive; hate never is.

As we give 2020 the boot, we mourn what we lost in 2020. Certainly, many lost jobs and income, and far too many restaurants and businesses closed. Most of all, we lost our people. I wrote in March 2020 that in an ironic twist of fate, it very well may be that the remnants of the Greatest Generation are once again on the front lines and would bear the brunt of the coronavirus disease. To date, 6 out of 10 coronavirus deaths are age 75 or older, and more than 80% age 65 or older. I lament the disdain for the elderly evidenced by the cavalier attitude of those who feel their personal rights and lower risk of severe disease mean they don’t have to be careful. Rugged individualism and love of neighbor do not have to be mutually exclusive. 

Ever, the optimist, I am glad to close the door on 2020 and see what 2021 brings. I look forward to seeing family members I have not seen in quite some time, to travel, and to the return of live performing arts (especially symphony, opera, and musical theater productions). New Year’s resolutions certainly look different this year. Yes, losing the COVID 15 pounds is probably on most people’s list. But I must resolve to maintain vigilance regarding COVID-19 until such time as herd immunity is achieved and the CDC recommends relaxing social distancing and masking. Likewise, I will continue to encourage those around me to get one of the vaccines when their time comes.

Finally, I hope and pray for 2021 that we all take a collective deep breath as we start the New Year. 1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out fear. I’ve said it many times: love your neighbor. More than anything, that’s how we can boot 2020 – and the fear and anxiety that came with it – out the door.

All I Want for Christmas

“All I want for Christmas is a new vaccine…” It has a nice, catchy ring to it, don’t you agree? Though several COVID-19 vaccine successes have been announced, thanks to President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, it is unlikely any of us will get a shot in the arm until after the New Year. For most, the wait will be months longer.

Sometimes the best presents are the ones we have to wait for. As a child, there was a string of years where my main Christmas gift was late, and I would have an IOU under the tree. Probably the most memorable such present was when I was fourteen years old. I was into photography and wanted an SLR camera, but they were expensive and hard to come by – at least in Midland, Texas. There was no internet shopping in 1975! My father had a friend who was going to Japan (where electronics were cheaper) and he was able to get one shipped to us, but it was not going to arrive by Christmas Day. There’s a reason we use the word ‘ship’ when we talk about package delivery, and the ship with my camera on board took six weeks to cross the Pacific. When that camera finally arrived, I definitely could say it was worth the wait!

Now we all wait on a COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Texas is ready. The Department of State Health Services (DSHS) developed a Vaccine Distribution Plan and is working with health care providers to enroll in the DSHS Immunization Program to be eligible to administer these vaccines once available. Over 2,500 providers have already enrolled in the program. The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) is prepared to assist the swift distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

I have followed the COVID-19 vaccine development and approval process for months now. I can tell you I will be 100% confident in any vaccines authorized or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn has written, “We are committed to expediting the development of COVID-19 vaccines, but not at the expense of sound science and decision making. We will not jeopardize the public’s trust in our science-based, independent review of these or any vaccines. There’s too much at stake.”

As a healthcare worker, theoretically I’m slated to be in an early cohort to get vaccinated. I haven’t heard any local details yet. The job of deciding “who goes first” falls to the DSHS COVID-19 Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel (EVAP). A Guiding Principles document recommended COVID-19 vaccine allocation be based on the following principles: protecting health care workers; protecting frontline workers; protecting vulnerable populations; and mitigating health inequities. The process is to be data-driven, geographically diverse, and transparent. The DSHS document goes on to describe in greater detail who the First and Second Tier health care workers are in Phase 1A. 

It is difficult to argue against prioritizing healthcare workers, first responders, and even residents of long-term care facilities, who have been devastated by COVID-19. Some have expressed concern about nursing home patients being in the first group because they are elderly and may not tolerate the vaccine as well. However, vaccine trial participants have come from all age groups. And though each vaccine is different, the general consensus is that vaccinating older adults against COVID-19 is safe and effective. I was heartened to read recently that the three living former presidents – Bill Clinton (age 74), George W. Bush (age 74), and Barack Obama (age 59) – have said they would be happy to get vaccinated on camera to show that it is safe and to encourage others to get it. As I called for months ago, I hope President Trump (also age 74) is first in line. We need the unified endorsement of politicians across the political divide to encourage a significant majority of people to get vaccinated.

One particular group that should be vaccinated sooner rather than later is our prison population. Texas inmates and staff tested positive for coronavirus at a 490% higher rate than the state’s general population. Eighty percent of people who died in jails from COVID-19 were not convicted of any crime. Tragically, almost 6% of the prison population at Angelina County’s Duncan Unit, a geriatric prison, has died of COVID-19. That’s one out of every 18 inmates dying in the span of five months. If we are truly concerned about vaccine distribution being equitable and just, our prison populations must not be forgotten or ignored.

As a Texas local public health district, the Angelina County & Cities Health District (ACCHD) under the leadership of Sharon Shaw actively participates in all state and federal COVID-19 vaccine calls. They have a task force represented by hospitals, pharmacies, physician clinics, and long-term care facilities to coordinate local logistics and planning efforts for vaccine delivery. The Coronavirus Call Center at (936) 633-6500 continues to take calls regarding COVID-19 testing, quarantine guidance, and, when available, vaccine information.

Despite the catchy Christmas tune, I long ago stopped wishing for two front teeth. But my Christmas wish for a coronavirus vaccine is about to be granted. I just have to wait a little bit longer. Who knows? It may be the best Christmas present ever!

Changing our Focus after the Election

 The 2020 election is over. We’ve made our choice for the top of the ticket and any number of other down ballot races. It may be we still don’t know the outcome of the presidential election when this column is printed. Regardless – hear me now! – life must goes on. 

By life, I mean in areas like work, family, worship, and commerce, of course, but also volunteerism and philanthropy. All of these are people-driven, relationship-driven activities, or in the case of our service to others, neighbor-driven. We are learning that we can be COVID-careful and still be caring. We cannot let fear paralyze us into ignoring the needs of those around us. 

Unfortunately, the recent end-of-the-world rhetoric from both sides of the aisle leading up to this election has been way over-the-top scary. One of the last Gallup polls prior to the election showed that nearly two-thirds of voters are afraid of what will happen if their candidate loses. At the same time, both parties are underwater when it comes to favorability. If the Gallup poll is correct, most of us have been not merely concerned, but downright it’s-going-to-be-the-end-of-the-world-if-we-lose afraid; yet, we don’t trust either party to be the solution. 

It is time to take our gaze off the White House and look around our neighborhoods and at ourselves. We must be the solution we want to see in Angelina County. How about supporting the wonderful businesses and non-profits that serve and minister in our community? Don’t just give money (but do that, please). Volunteer! 

There is no question that our ability to volunteer in person has been hampered during the pandemic. Even so, more than 200 First Baptist Church members, organized by Minister of Missions Walker McWilliams, worked throughout the community last Sunday – socially distanced and masked – in their fourth annual Love Lufkin day.

Folks, hunger hasn’t abated. In fact, during the pandemic food insecurity has gotten much worse according to those on the hunger front lines like Captains Cavon and Jenifer Phillips with the Salvation Army. Prior to COVID-19, they fed on average 100 people a day. Since the pandemic began, they are feeding 350-400 people a day, and at one point it was up to 600 a day. In addition, they have seen an exponential increase in rental assistance requests. These two saints do phenomenal work and would love to have your volunteer help and financial support. You can donate online at https://www.salvationarmytexas.org/lufkin/ or sign up to ring a bell during their Red Kettle Campaign at www.registertoring.com. 

Another local saint that can use all the help she can get is Yulonda Richard at the Christian Information and Service Center (CISC). Prior to the pandemic, CISC was seeing an average of 17,000 people per month. Since March, her mostly elderly volunteer base has had to stay home for their own safety. CISC is only able to be open three days a week now. They are still helping around 7,400 people a month and making deliveries as far away as Zavalla to those who have no other way to get food. And they continue their back-pack buddy program which provides weekend rations for school children all over the district. Yulonda told me, “It takes a village to raise a child but it truly takes the love and kindness of Angelina County to help our neighbors in their hour of need.” Thank her by mailing a check to CISC at 501 S. Angelina St, Lufkin, Texas, 75904.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, let’s not forget the wonderful legacy of the late Rev. Bettie Kennedy and the Community Food Drive, so ably run each year by Bruce Love. In years past, they have distributed 2,000 Thanksgiving meal boxes to families in need. Even with COVID-19 affecting volunteer participation opportunities and logistics, Bruce still plans to distribute 1,000 Thanksgiving meal boxes this year. Send Bruce a Thanksgiving-sized check to Community Food Drive, 1508 S. First St, Lufkin, Texas, 75901.

I still remember as a child reading Corrie ten Boom’s biography, The Hiding Place. Her family’s story of sacrificing their safety (and for some, their lives) to hide Jews during the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands was profoundly inspiring. At great risk and despite constant fear, they practiced love. 

Still afraid of what the election results may bring? Let’s stop wringing our own hands and start holding the hands of those around us. The peace that comes with helping others can heal any troubled soul. That is a choice we can all vote for!

2020 and Coronavirus Fatigue

I’m tired. I’m tired of 2020 and COVID-19. 2020 has certainly been full of meme-worthy events, but the pandemic has loomed over them all. I vacillate between exasperation and calling people out for not wearing masks, on the one hand, and resignation on the other. Anger? Depression? Mostly, I’m just tired. 

I worry about friends who have had or will catch COVID-19. I grieve for those who have lost friends or relatives to the disease. I wonder if – no, when – I (or a family member) will catch it, and how severe the illness will be. I think we all suffer from a sense of impending doom.

I’m tired of trying to figure out why some people think they have a right to endanger others by not wearing a mask or social distancing. Would they also get drunk and drive? This selfish hubris is bald hypocrisy when practiced by those who conflate Christianity and partisan politics, whose insistence on personal rights and worship of Trump evidently are more important than loving their neighbor. (See there? I am getting angry again.)

And now that Trump has COVID-19, the politicization of mask wearing by some on the right has been countered with a celebratory “I-told-you-so” attitude by some on the left. As one observer said, referring to all the warnings about how cavalier the Trump White House has been about masks and social distancing, “There is no joy in being right.” My private prediction that Trump – if he got out of the hospital fairly quickly – would turn around and say, ‘See? This coronavirus isn’t that bad!’ came true. I do hope and pray he continues to a full recovery. But I am so very tired of the scientific community having to clean up after Trump’s ignorant and dangerous medical beliefs and statements.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross famously described five stages of grief that terminally ill patients experience when faced with their impending death. These stages – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – have since been used to describe our emotional processing of any loss or tragedy. Or, in the case of 2020, an entire year. Kübler-Ross’s stages do not have to be experienced in the commonly stated order. And those stages, it seems to me, can be seen in our national narrative and psyche as well, not just our individual lives. The United States is reeling from successive, seemingly unrelenting blows (hurricanes, wildfires, protests, murder hornets, the pandemic, etc.), staggering between anger and depression – as I have been personally – or grasping at national denial and bargaining, depending on the day. 

My wife tells me how homesick she is for the life pre-pandemic. I find myself overeating as an escape from the relentless bad news cycle. I can tell I’m not sleeping as well, either. Are you tired as well? How are you handling 2020? We all need to be mindful of how we handle stress and depression. Relying on alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs is not appropriate coping, yet drug and alcohol use are on the rise. Mental health and alcohol and drug abuse organizations – Burke and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council of Deep East Texas (ADAC), for example – are here to help. Don’t let yourself spiral out of control. If you are having a mental health emergency, call Burke’s 24-hour crisis line at 1 (800) 392-8343. For ADAC services, call 1 (800) 445-8562 or (936) 634-5753 to schedule an appointment.

Regardless of the sequence or magnitude of the stages of grief, the goal for resolution and healing – individually as well as nationally – must be some movement toward acceptance. In the case of the pandemic, that acceptance ideally should include an acknowledgement of the reality and severity of the illness and the need for at least a basic individual and communal response (hand washing, masks, social distancing), even if we don’t always agree on broader, more complex issues, like how and when the economy or the schools should open up. We must accept that the scientific community is not out to derail the presidency; rather, to save lives.

2020 will come to an end. On December 31 at midnight, we will sing Auld Lang Syne and gratefully close the book on the year. Not so fast with the pandemic. A safe and effective vaccine may still be a ways off. Though we are all tired (and occasionally angry or depressed), we cannot let down our guard as individuals or as a society. Let’s move beyond denial, anger, bargaining and depression and toward acceptance, including acceptance of and care for each other. We have so many strengths as community, and we need each other now more than ever. Together, we can do this. The ancient prophet Isaiah could have written for today: we must renew our strength, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not be faint. And while we are at it, let’s not forget to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Will a Coronavirus Vaccine Be the Answer?

The novel coronavirus has changed our lives. Just about everything we do is affected by mask-wearing and social distancing. The economy has been reeling, although you wouldn’t know it by looking at the stock market. There have been more than 6 million cases in the US and closing in on 200,000 deaths so far. Thankfully, scientific knowledge around coronavirus is expanding at an unprecedented pace. Everyone is looking for a silver bullet against coronavirus. Many hope a vaccine will be that bullet.

Development of a coronavirus vaccine is an urgent priority of the federal government. Since its inception in May, Operation Warp Speed – the collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and pharmaceutical companies to develop and produce hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines – has helped identify well over one hundred vaccine candidates and implement dozens of trials. Nine vaccines are in large scale phase 3 trials. Projections of when a vaccine will be available have ranged from October (per President Trump in the early days of the vaccine development) to the end of 2020 or, more likely, early 2021, according to recent comments by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. Dr. Fauci seriously doubts we will have to rely on an international vaccine (think Russia or China), having openly criticized the Russian President Vladimir Putin-promoted effort as “bogus”.

Obviously, the sooner we have a vaccine, the better. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is calling on states to have vaccine distribution sites fully operational by November 1, a gargantuan task. That does not mean a vaccine will be delivered on November 1. We need to temper our expectations of what will happen – and how quickly – once a vaccine becomes available.

The goal of any vaccination campaign is “herd” (community) immunity, where a sufficient proportion of a population is immune to make disease spread from person to person unlikely. In general, 60% or more of a community or population needs to have either had a particular infectious disease or be vaccinated against it in order to provide sufficient community immunity. Sounds easy enough.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 45.3% of adults got a flu vaccination for the 2018-2019 season, ranging from a low of 33.9% in Nevada to only 56.3% in Rhode Island. Twenty percent of Americans already say they will refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and with another 31 percent unsure, reaching herd immunity could be that much more difficult. On a cautiously optimistic note, there is some speculation that the herd immunity level with the COVID-19 coronavirus might be as low as 43%. That shouldn’t make us think twice about getting vaccinated, however, especially when that vaccine will be effectively free and, if all goes as promised, readily available. The more the merrier, when it comes to people getting vaccinated.

I do worry how long it will take to get 300 million doses of a vaccine delivered and administered in our communities. In the 2009 H1N1 pandemic (caused by a more seasonal flu virus than the novel coronavirus), vaccine doses were first distributed to state and local health departments and then further out to mass clinics, employers, schools, hospitals, pharmacies, and doctor’s offices. Even so, only about a quarter of all Americans got vaccinated before the pandemic played out. The coronavirus vaccination effort will have to be larger and faster, and this pandemic is not expected to fizzle like a flu season does. (We already know that optimistic predictions of a summer lull did not happen.) All that is to say, it may be awhile before we reach herd immunity.

There are other logistical uncertainties as well. Will the vaccine require cold storage? (Probably.) Will a single dose be effective? (Probably not.) How will distribution and dosing be prioritized? (Health care workers? Elderly? Racial disparities?) With so many vaccines in development, “the first” vaccine may not be “the best” vaccine for the long run. I would still take it… and whatever follows as well, if that is what is recommended by the medical experts.

Politics continues to tussle with Science, most recently in the “breakthrough” announced from the White House regarding convalescent plasma as a COVID-19 treatment. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn sheepishly had to backtrack misleading comments made about convalescent plasma therapy while defending against Trump’s accusations that the “deep state” at the FDA was making it hard for drug companies to test coronavirus treatments. Thankfully, Politics is funding Science to an incredible extent during this pandemic. I suppose in any dance one partner may step on the other’s toes on occasion. As long as the dance continues, we have hope.

While we wait on a coronavirus vaccine, we should stay current with other vaccinations and definitely get the flu shot this fall. There is some speculation that vaccinations might help “train” or boost our overall immune system. Who knows? And we need to continue to slow the spread of coronavirus by wearing masks (mouth AND nose, please), washing our hands, and social distancing. Remember, this is a community effort.

One final thought. When a coronavirus vaccine does become available – one that is determined to be safe and effective – I would like to see President Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and other major political and scientific leaders hold a news conference and all get vaccinated together on live television. Lead by bipartisan example! What better way to reassure the public and encourage all of us to follow suit. A vaccine may or may not be a silver bullet, but I am hopeful one (or more) will be a great tool in the fight. 

Coronavirus Information and Misinformation

As a physician, I have been fascinated by the rapid acquisition of knowledge about the novel coronavirus and the deadly disease it causes, COVID-19. True, that knowledge may not be coming as fast as we like. But the pace of vaccine development, for example, is remarkable. But along with knowledge come ignorance, misinformation, and deception.

First, a bit of ignorance. At a rally in Phoenix, in June, President Trump fired up his audience with anti-China rhetoric. In doing so, he displayed his lack of understanding of how COVID-19 got its name. “I said, ‘What’s the 19?’” Trump said. “COVID-19, some people can’t explain what the 19, give me, COVID-19, I said, ‘That’s an odd name.’” Trump apparently thought names like kung flu, Wuhan virus, and Chinese flu were more appropriate.

We can all be forgiven for not knowing something like how COVID-19 got its technical (and not intuitively obvious) name. First, the virus that causes COVID-19 is the novel (meaning new) coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first coronavirus caused an outbreak of SARS in the early 2000s. This new coronavirus appeared in 2019; hence, the disease it causes, COVID-19 – CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease – carries the number 19 for the year it started (2019), not because it is the nineteenth disease (it is not). There’s your – and Trump’s – science lesson for the day.

On to misinformation and deception. Some misinformation is due to inaccurate information. For example, this paper published that while the number of COVID-19 cases has exploded in Texas nursing homes last month, Angelina County is bucking that trend. That turned out to be based on either inaccurate or delayed information, as local physicians are aware of many local nursing home cases. The paper has updated the story as more information has come available. What is certain, however, is that our case count continues to rise.

Lack of information or incomplete information is different from deception. I have written previously about the importance of wearing masks. But mask wearing took another hit recently when our own Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) not only caught coronavirus, he released a video suggesting it was the mask that gave it to him. In his own self-deception, he believes he wears a mask often, but many eyewitnesses (not to mention ever-present news media) suggest otherwise. Gohmert loves history, but history will not be on his side on this one. Deception to support a false narrative is no different than writing history to support a political agenda. Our country has seen too much of that.

When it comes to treatment, President Trump famously has advocated for unproven therapies, from bleach to the anti-malaria hydroxychloroquine. Regarding hydroxychloroquine, the results are in. With strong data that hydroxychloroquine is not effective either as therapy or as postexposure prophylaxis, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently revoked its Emergency Use Authorization, saying it is “unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19” and that “in light of ongoing serious cardiac adverse events and other serious side effects, the known and potential benefits … no longer outweigh the known and potential risks” for authorized use. Our national coronavirus guru, Dr. Anthony Fauci, minced no words in saying, "The overwhelming prevailing clinical trials that have looked at the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine have indicated that it is not effective in coronavirus disease.” 

This has not stopped President Trump from practically practicing medicine without a license. 

Trump literally is the most famous and influential person in the world. He is not alone in equating personal or anecdotal experience (I did X and Y didn’t happen; therefore, X prevented Y) with rigorous scientific study. My patients do it all the time. However, they do not have an international bully pulpit. His hubris throughout the pandemic in suggesting treatments (like bleach) is jaw-droppingly astounding. (Bleach works on your countertop, right? Why wouldn’t it work inside your body?) Not only is his medical advice suspect at a minimum, it has been dangerous. And just this last week, Trump had his election campaign Twitter account temporarily blocked and a Facebook post deleted when he posted that children are “almost immune from this disease.” When it comes to your health, listen to the doctors.

But don’t listen to quacks, especially those with pseudo-religious and anti-scientific claims. The bleach treatment claim (touted by a family of swindlers who formed a “church” in Florida) falls into that category. But the icing on the cake – so far – has to go to a true charlatan, Dr. Stella Immanuel, a Houston physician of questionable medical training and even more dubious religious authority. She famously believes in alien DNA, demon sperm and that the government is run in part not by humans but by “reptilians” and other aliens. That didn’t stop Donald Trump Jr. declared a video of hers a “must watch,” while President Trump himself retweeted the video.

Unfortunately, attempts to set the record straight regarding coronavirus misinformation by referencing scientific data are considered by far too many to be “fake news” or viewed as a conspiracy theory. Just look at Facebook for examples. I implore you to use this information for how it is intended. Educate yourself on the facts of coronavirus. There is much we don’t yet know, of course. And the vast majority of us – anti-vaxxers excepted – eagerly await a vaccine. In the meantime, please DO wear your mask – over both your mouth AND nose, please! – and DO social distance. DO use hand sanitizer or soap and water often. Together – caring for each other – we can get through this. 

Pandemics and Personal Responsibility

We have been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic for many months now. What an emotional roller coaster ride it has been. Early thoughts of “flattening the curve” have not panned out in Texas. In Angelina County, there has been a steady rise in cases since early April.  From a healthcare standpoint, much has been written of the way the virus – as if it had a mind of its own – discriminates against minority populations. Of course, the virus itself is colorblind. However, many of the social and economic factors that affect health are not.

The Economist, in a column titled Black America in peril , quotes WEB DuBois, an African American sociologist, who said that the “most difficult social problem in the matter of Negro health” was that so few white Americans were bothered by it. He wrote that in 1899. This “indifference” to human suffering continues today and is perpetuated by a broken procedure-oriented, insurance-driven system of healthcare that is vastly too expensive for everyone, not just those without insurance. The answer is not so simplistic as providing insurance coverage for everyone (although expanding Medicaid coverage is Texas would have significant positive health and economic benefits for the state).

In the United States, these health inequities extend beyond racial classification. The attainment and maintenance of health is a multifactorial and heavily socioeconomic phenomenon.  Enter COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Once again, we see higher death rates in vulnerable populations. In the middle of a pandemic, we are not going to solve systemic inequities in healthcare.

But that does not mean we are helpless.

Ironically, the most effective prevention intervention – wearing masks – has become one of the most political, with some rights-obsessed conservatives (who presumably wear seatbelts in their cars) selfishly preferring to risk harming others rather than donning a minimally irritating face covering. Why is it that those shouting “personal rights and responsibility” from the rooftops are the ones rejecting the singularly individual action that can save lives?

In a recent interview, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health and former head of the Human Genome Project (and, incidentally, a committed Christian, which should be of some comfort to those who are inclined to conflate religious and political viewpoints), was asked, “As someone who is both an acclaimed scientist and a public Christian, what’s your perspective on the pandemic as a cultural issue?” His reply is both compassionate and pragmatic. “Your chance of spreading the coronavirus to a vulnerable person has nothing to do with what culture you come from or what political party you belong to. Your responsibility is to try to prevent that from happening to vulnerable people around you. But our country’s polarization is so extreme that it even seems to extend into a place like this — where it absolutely doesn’t belong. That is really troubling because it’s putting people at risk who shouldn’t be.” 

In times of great social and political upheaval, we can become despondent and feel there is nothing we as individuals can do to fix anything. (Frankly, we put too much hope in elections.) It just so happens that in the middle of this coronavirus pandemic it is exactly individual action that is going to make all the difference. Whatever your personal ethical or religious motivation, we can all follow the Golden Rule. We can follow the command of Jesus – “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  – who undoubtedly would be wearing a mask right now. Go and do likewise. Do it for the least of these. Wear your masks. Save lives.