To the Editor:
Most Americans are confused as to where we are going in this Pandemic. With denial and false information coming from the current administration the real story has become clouded. I would like to try and paint a possible scenario.
The ideal outcome is an effective vaccine. We are unsure if any vaccine will ever give long lasting immunity and historically the great majority of vaccines fail testing. Compare to an AIDS vaccine—still none. If a successful vaccine is found (one that passes phase 3 trials and gives lasting immunity) it will still take many months to produce, distribute and administer.
Until we are safely immunized, what should a day in our life look like? You will follow social distancing guidelines, wear a mask whenever in public and near other people, &c. Soon, when you wake up in the morning, you will perform an accurate saliva test for Covid-19, and take your temperature. If you are normal you will proceed with your day, following all present national guidelines for safety. If you are positive, you will go to a local Covid-19 clinic and confirm testing, get a monoclonal antibody shot, and possibly another drug to prevent the disease. You will then be interviewed for tracking, and then go into quarantine.
If you get sick you will be treated aggressively with the then-current methods, including Remdesivir, convalescent plasma, oxygen, and other therapies that have been proven to decrease mortality. Fewer people will become infected, die, or become disabled.
The most important thing is that we need to understand: this is a Pandemic, and extremely dangerous. To return to a reasonable new normal, we all must make sacrifices and share in the pain. Working together, supporting each other without prejudice, will enable us to constrain the virus. Only then can we begin to work, play, go to school, and function in a near-normal capacity. Trump’s failure to respond to the Pandemic in a timely fashion has cost us unnecessary pain and deaths and lost time. Let us get to work.
Wayne Goldner, MD
Bedford, N.H.
Wayne:
Yes, if only….
The Editor
–=≈=–