On September 18, a maskless President Joe Biden declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The week preceding this declaration saw COVID-19 as the second leading cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease. Just a few weeks before, 16,000 COVID-related deaths occurred globally. But just a little over two weeks before the pronouncement, already free COVID tests were no longer available.
And still billions of people on the planet have yet to get even one dose of vaccine. The virus seems to be moving right along, surviving just fine with a healthy reservoir of hosts to allow it to grow at any time. As the virus mutates and the immunity acquired by vaccines dwindles, this allows COVID the opportunity to come roaring back. This is not a time to declare victory.
This proclamation triggers the reduction or even the eradication of funding for COVID testing and care for the poor and uninsured. Those funds are likely to be diverted towards things like funding the war in Ukraine, with over $60 billion already spent.
This declaration is yet another indicator of how not caring about each other pushes us toward societal break down. The politicians don’t care if “those people” get sick and die. The lesson of the pandemic should’ve been that we are all in this together. It looks like our rulers haven’t learned a thing.
