By PAUL NATINSKY
Regardless of the state of science or prejudices of politics, the common cultural vibe is that the COVID-19 pandemic is over. I saw convincing evidence on a trip to visit a friend recovering from a stroke at a Southeast Michigan hospital. The nurses staffing the desk on his floor either had their masks at half-mast (below the nose) or completely furled.
In mid-April the official lowering of sails was announced. May 11 will be the date on which the national emergency initiated by then-President Trump and renewed twice by President Biden is set to expire. The end of required fabric face filters is mostly a symbolic end to COVID precautions, as businesses and social gatherings have long been barefaced and stickers forbidding use of every other stadium seat or restaurant booth have begun to fade and peel as patrons slide into those spots.
As is often the case, the real story is a case of following the money. In this instance money for testing, vaccines and treatments will shift from government subsidies to the realm or private insurance and standard government programs such as Medicaid.
As many as 3 percent of Americans are estimated to be immunocompromised, which translates to about 10 million people who are at an increased risk to experience COVID’s more serious complications. Additionally, an estimated 16 million people suffer from long-haul COVID, a condition in which those affected suffer “persistent headaches, cognitive-functioning issues, fatigue, neuropathies, dizziness and fainting, significant sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal issues, and post-exertional symptom exacerbation (the worsening of symptoms after physical, mental, or emotional exertion),” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In total, that’s about 26 million people—the population of a large state—that are at risk of losing access to COVID-related healthcare services.
Perhaps worse, is the loss of research dollars as the three-year COVID emergency winds down. Congress appropriated $1.15 to study long COVID, but advocates say much research has missed the mark. A push for an NIH institute dedicated to long-haul COVID research is afoot, that would parallel the process HIV research advocates used to secure research dollars.
The point is that while a nation wants to put the pandemic—and all of the medical, economic and political chaos it wrought—behind it, there needs to be a pause for thought. Time set aside to consider that COVID was labeled a “novel” virus precisely because it was something not seen before.
We owe that to our most vulnerable populations, the people who still must avoid crowds. The few that remain masked and afraid.