Cumberland County’s Pandemic of the Unvaccinated
By Albert B. Kelly
Over the past several weeks, officials at all levels of government having been using the phrase “pandemic of the unvaccinated” to characterize what has happening in this country over the last month with fresh waves of infections and hospitalizations associated with Covid-19 and particularly the Delta variant. It is getting bad in some parts of the country and if we enough of our populations remain unvaccinated locally, it is only a matter of time before we see more of our unvaccinated friends, family and neighbors impacted.
The Delta variant is more easily spread and according to some in the medical community slightly more aggressive in terms of how the illness affects people. I am also worried about how this virus will mutate over the coming months. Right now the Delta variant is making headlines, but there are others to come if collectively remain only partially vaccinated.
As we speak, the CDC has various categories including “variant of interest”, “variant of concern”, and “variant of high consequence”; for those needing an equivalent translation, think “person of interest”, “suspect”, and “armed and dangerous”. Within each of these categories, the CDC has named the different variants using the Greek alphabet.
A “variant of interest” is characterized by evidence that it causes an increased number of unique cases in clusters and among this group we have variants Epsilon, Eta, Iota, and Kappa. These variants are worth watching, but these appear to be the lesser of the evils when it comes to variants.
What we’re dealing with now when it comes to the Delta variant, is a “variant of concern”. These variants show evidence of increased transmissibility, meaning you can catch it easier and evidence of disease severity and these include variants Alpha, Gamma, Beta, and of course Delta.
Fortunately, at the moment there is not a “variant of high consequence”. This is a good thing because such variants mean that prevention measures (i.e. masks, social distancing, etc.) don’t work nearly as well. But more alarming is that medical countermeasures, meaning vaccines, are far less effective in preventing sickness and keeping infections mild. A variant in this category will mean far more severe cases and many more hospitalizations and this will include those who’ve gotten the vaccine.
So that is my worry right now- that far too many of us will remain unvaccinated so that the Covid-19 virus keeps moving among us, the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike, and as it does it will change and mutate into a “variant of high consequence” that we’ll necessarily label “chi”, “psi”, or “omega”, something much different and deadlier, something our vaccines can’t handle, a virus that kills with certainty. That’s the nightmare scenario we’re hoping to avoid, if we don’t run out of time.
If you would like to get the vaccine, you can do so in Bridgeton at the mobile vaccine clinic that will be at the downtown Riverfront on Tuesday, August 10th from 12noon to 7:00pm and again at the Riverfront on Thursday, August 12th from 12noon to 7:00pm. The mobile vaccine clinic will then shift over to the Irving Avenue Shopping Plaza at 145-147 Irving Ave (Los Puentes) on Sunday, August 15th from 10:00am to 5:00pm.
For those in or near Millville, the mobile vaccine clinic will be staged at the Lighthouse Church of God on E. Broad St on Tuesday, August 17th from 12noon to 7:00pm and at the North High Street parking lot at the mini-park near Save-A-Lot and Citi Liquor on Thursday, August 19th from 12 noon to 7:00pm and again on Saturday August 21st from 10:00am to 5:00pm.
The vaccine is free and you do not need to show ID or any type of documentation and you will not need to show proof of insurance to get vaccinated; you only need to show up. In terms of the vaccines the Pfizer vaccine will be available for those ages 12 and up, while Moderna and Johnson & Johnson will be available for those ages 18 and up.
If you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, now is the time because once we close out the summer and head into autumn with the onset of cold and flu season, that may well be the time when officials start raising the alarm about this country’s first bona fide “variant of high consequence” and when that happens and I suspect it will, it will be too late for too many.