No. We Will not Defeat COVID-19

 Can we please stop the insanity?

We are not going to defeat COVID-19.  

This isn't a defeatest statement.  

It's a statement of reality.

We. Are. Not. Going. To. Defeat. COVID-19.

We have to learn to live with it.  

Period.

Unfortunately, those in power and in control aren't willing to say this.  I have my thoughts as to why, but they are speculation.  Maybe I will do a little bit of that later.  But, for now, we need to consider the evidence.  And there is only once conclusion to draw from the evidence.

We will not eradicate COVID-19 by vaccination.  From all the evidence, vaccines will reduce your chances of hospitalization and death immensely, but they will not completely prevent you from getting the virus, nor will they keep you from spreading it.  By now, you probably know someone who has had a breakthrough case.  I have had a breakthrough case.  After being fully vaccinated, I caught the Delta variant.  After about a week of feeling like I had a balloon in my head and losing my sense of smell, I was well.  I had a mild case.  Would I have ended up in the hospital without the vaccination?  Who knows?  I am thankful that I didn't.  I am not the only one with a breakthrough case.  I could point out at least 20 others in my congregation alone who caught COVID after being fully vaccinated.  Let's dissolve ourselves of the idea that these vaccines will stop this disease in its tracks.  It won't.

And the breakthrough cases are not the only evidence we have to know that vaccination will not defeat COVID.  The news media has at least indirectly given us another piece of information which helps us in our quest of the truth. COVID is not restricted to human hosts.  Animals get it.  Stories abound from zoos where animals have contracted the virus and even died from it.  As a hunter, numerous stories were written telling us to mask up and wear gloves when field dressing our deer because they were infected with COVID.  What is significant about this news?  The virus has hosts to replicate and mutate in outside of humans.  This means, our vaccines will eventually be rendered useless and must be continually updated to deal with the mutations.  The reason we have been able to nearly eradicate measles, mumps, and other such diseases is that they are human specific.  The reason we have not been able to eradicate the common cold or flu--they are not human specific and continually mutate.

This evidence is hard evidence. It is not circumstantial.  You cannot explain it away.

And lock-downs are ineffective.  Just look at the data.  In the U.S. look at the graphs of states who were strict about lockdowns and mask mandates.  Compare them to states who were more lenient.  Any difference?  No.  Not at all.  I know there are more than a few studies that suggest lockdowns worked and that mask mandates meant fewer cases.  Not by the hard data.  Not by what you see with your own eyes on the graphs.  COVID spreads.  Like a common cold.  It's that infectious, and there isn't much we are going to be able to do to stop it.

The insanity is thinking that we can.  

The  logical conclusion given the hard data is that COVID-19 will become and indeed might already be endemic.  We won't defeat it.  We will have to live and manage with it.  Vaccines will help mitigate the severity of the disease--especially for the most vulnerable.  Medications will arrive which will also help.  Folks who take care of their own physical health--COVID seems to really have an adverse effect on people who are overweight/obese--will be in good stead.  

Some may choose to remove themselves from society to protect themselves.  That is their choice.

Others will choose to engage in the world and live taking the risk.  That is their choice as well.

But let's stop the insanity of thinking that we are going to defeat this thing.  Ain't happening.  There are things that are beyond our control.  This is one of them.  Deal with it.