By Amber Dance

March 2020 was when everything changed

This month marks the two-year anniversary of the pandemic. Many Americans started to grasp that something serious was happening as U.S. states began to lock down on March 15, 2020. California issued its shelter-in-place order on March 19.

Two years later, the virus has sickened more than 465 million people worldwide and killed nearly 1 million Americans — though that number is likely an undercount.

More than 10 million doses of vaccines have been administered, but about one-third of the world’s population hasn’t had a single shot.

The World Health Organization now says the “acute” phase of the pandemic could end this year — if every country were to reach a 70% vaccination rate.

On the March 11 anniversary of the WHO declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 130 prominent figures released an open letter urging more efforts to vaccinate people in middle- and low-income nations, reports Maite Fernández Simon at The Washington Post.

The authors, ranging from former U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-Moon to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to actor Charlize Theron, pointed a finger at intellectual property rules hindering the widespread manufacture and distribution of vaccines, tests and treatments.

“We must recapture the spirit of solidarity to end the suffering and create a better future,” said co-signee Joyce Banda, former president of Malawi.

Black patients deemed lower priority under some metrics

Nearly 500 patients admitted to the intensive care units of six Boston hospitals in the spring of 2020 were assigned a number between one and eight. That number, based on the severity of their condition and their chances for long-term survival, registered their priority for lifesaving treatments. If a hospital started to run out of resources, those who scored a one or two would be first in line; people ranked six to eight would be last.

Luckily, the hospital didn’t have to institute such care rationing plans. But the scores gave researchers an opportunity to later assess whether the scoring system amplified racial inequities. It did: Black patients were twice as likely to land in the lowest-priority group as people of other ethnicities.

Had ventilators become scarce, the prioritization would have killed more Black people than other patients.

The study, reported in JAMA Network Open, is one of a growing number to assess inequities in pandemic triage. The results have varied: some reports have found evidence of unfair policies, while others have not.

What else could hospitals do? Unfortunately, a fairer alternative has yet to present itself, writes Dr. Hayley B. Gershengorn in an accompanying JAMA commentary.

One option would be a care access lottery, but randomly allocating ventilators would result in even more unnecessary deaths, the study authors calculated.

Or hospitals could take a “first-come, first-served” approach. Or they might end up prioritizing those with resources such as money and connections.

Yet people tend to prefer strategies based on how likely someone is to survive and how long they have left to live, Gershengorn writes.

Instead, she suggests, hospitals must do the best they can with the tools they have, and policymakers must strive to improve scoring systems. She says leaders should ensure that committees developing triage policies are diverse, and that scorers are well-trained for consistent results.

Is U.S. in the eye of the omicron hurricane?

The COVID situation in America is good right now. Cases are down, and so are hospitalizations and deaths. The next “hot vax summer” seems to be just around the corner.

But elsewhere around the globe, the situation is bleaker, due to is a convergence of loosening restrictions, the more transmissible BA.2 variant, and waning immunity.

Cases are rising fast in Europe; Germany’s case rate is breaking national records.

In Asia, parts of China are back on lockdown after facing the worst outbreaks since the pandemic began. Hong Kong, currently overwhelmed by the virus, is also on lockdown and running low on coffins, which are normally shipped from the mainland.

The situation in Europe and the U.K. has reliably presaged U.S. pandemic patterns in the past, and if history repeats itself, the U.S. could be in for yet another wave as the country’s restrictions disappear. Shortly after the U.K. dropped all pandemic precautions, infections and hospitalizations are increasing, writes Nicola Davis at The Guardian. Many cases there are repeat COVID infections, notes Eamon Barrett at Fortune.

And the U.S. may be more vulnerable than the U.K., write Tara John and Isabelle Jani Friend at CNN. That’s because the U.K. boasts an 86% vaccination rate to the U.S.’s 69%; booster rates are lower in the U.S. too.

“What we see happening in the U.K. is going to, perhaps, be a better story than what we should be expecting here,” epidemiologist Keri Althoff told CNN.

The U.S. does have the protection of a high rate of immunity to omicron, due to natural infections in addition to the vaccines; one model estimated that 73% of Americans had immunity in February.

Nonetheless, the BA.2 subvariant has been steadily rising in the U.S., now making up more than one-fifth of cases. It’s already the dominant variant in the U.K.

Evidence of the virus in U.S. wastewater sites is also going up in about one-third of the sites monitored by the CDC.

Of course, the future isn’t certain, and “a spike on the scale of the winter omicron surge seems unlikely,” writes Andrew Joseph at STAT. “Still, if cases rise enough, some of those infections will lead to hospitals and deaths.”

Crucial federal pandemic funding in limbo

The White house is tapping new leadership for the next phase of the pandemic with the appointment of Dr. Ashish Jha to replace Jeff Zients as pandemic coordinator.

Jha takes on this challenge as the pandemic purse is running dangerously low, and Congress is unlikely to release more cash anytime soon, report Tamara Keith and Kelsey Snell for NPR’s Morning Edition.

The crisis comes after Congress stripped $15 billion in COVID funding from a bigger spending package passed earlier in March.

As a result, the White House is warning of harsh cuts to pandemic measures.

This week, it will start to wind down a program that’s been paying for testing, treatments and vaccinations among people who lack health insurance.

The Biden administration will also scale back purchases of monoclonal antibodies and the antiviral Paxlovid. If most people end up needing a second vaccine booster, the federal government might not be able to afford them.

Assistance to makers of rapid tests, research on new vaccines, and assistance for vaccination campaigns in low-income nations will also be reduced.

“To be clear, these facets of the pandemic response were already insufficient,” writes Ed Yong at The Atlantic. “These measures needed to be strengthened, not weakened even further.”

The budget woes could keep the U.S. in a “cycle of under-preparedness,” reports Rachel Cohrs at STAT, with disastrous results if a dangerous new variant should emerge. Waiting until then to release funds would be like “going out and purchasing fire trucks the moment the 911 calls come in,” epidemiologist Michael Osterholm told her. “People will unnecessarily have to die.”

Pfizer, Moderna seek authorization for second boosters

Pfizer has asked the FDA and CDC to authorize a fourth dose of its mRNA vaccine for people 65 and older. The shot would, presumably, amp up antibodies circulating in the bloodstream to protect this vulnerable group.

On Thursday, Moderna then asked for authorization for a second booster for all adults, saying this would give the CDC and doctors the flexibility to determine which of those adults need more boosting. That might include younger adults whose health issues put them at high risk for severe disease.

Such boosters would combat waning immunity with, most likely, a temporary boost in protection. In February, the CDC found efficacy of either company’s booster against hospitalization dropped from 91% to 78% after four months. But the CDC itself framed that number as a positive: It released a media statement saying, “a third dose of mRNA continues to offer high levels of protection against severe disease, even months after administration.”

For further justification, Moderna pointed to “recently published data generated in the United States and Israel following the emergence of omicron,” writes Zeke Miller at AP News.

Specific evidence cited by Pfizer included studies from Kaiser Permanente Southern California indicating vaccine efficacy wanes three to six months after the first booster, and data from Israel, where a fourth shot is already available to health care workers and people aged 60 or older.

For the seniors, preprint data from Israel indicate the additional booster halved rates of infection, compared to only one booster, in January of 2022. Seniors who received two boosters were one-quarter as likely to be hospitalized with severe COVID as those who got one booster.

For adults of any age employed in the Israeli health care sector, the benefits of the second booster were “marginal,” writes Molly Walker at MedPage Today. 

The U.S. currently allows a fourth dose for people who are immunocompromised.

Experts are divided on broadening the authorization, reports Sharon LaFraniere at The New York Times. While Dr. Peter Hotez told her a second booster now is an excellent idea, Dr. Jesse L. Goodman, former chief scientist at the FDA, said it’s still not certain how much protection against severe disease wanes or “to what degree and for how long another booster might help.”

In fact, giving people additional boosters with the same vaccine formula can sometimes make it harder for the immune system to adapt to new variants, writes Rachel Gutman at The Atlantic. “A fourth shot, then, might give seniors more protection for an unknown period of time against a disease that is currently in decline in the U.S., and it might jeopardize some of their protection against that same disease when cases begin to rise again,” Gutman explains.

Omicron-specific boosters, initially expected this month, have been delayed.

A decision on Pfizer’s application for a fourth shot could come soon, according to The Washington Post.

The Post also reports that the FDA is also considering a COVID booster campaign in the fall, potentially coinciding with the flu vaccine rollout, to cover a wider swath of the population.

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We who enjoy the right to live in freedom in the greatest state of the greatest country in the world, sometimes believe that if it isn’t happening to us, it just isn’t happening. Yes, we know all about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock…but just once maybe we might consider what the rest of the world finds worthy of being thankful for. Times change. Wars and political settlements change borders.  Let us not forget historical and generational changes as well. The latter is something of which my son constantly keeps me informed.

The where, what and why of holidays and the reasons for which we celebrate them also change. For instance, our Thanksgiving Day has basically been celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the November. Now it is situated so the country can take an extra day off. Friday after Thanksgiving used to be the day we recovered from the over-stuffing we did the day before.. Today that Friday is called, “Black Friday,” which has nothing to do with boiling cauldrons or witches. Instead, it becomes a time for folks to abandon home and hearth to do their discount Christmas Shopping. Black is hardly the color of the event. Stores are stacked from floor to ceiling with bright blinking lights. Folks prod and shove, while carelessly knocking over other shoppers to get their hands on that last television that is priced 50% off “for today only!!”

We are like herds of disoriented bison racing across the prairies, destroying everything in sight. Racing to where? Just to get “there.” We have been led to believe that nobody in the world has anything to be thankful for except us, but hold on a second or two.. Thanksgiving is celebrated around the world for various reasons, so let’s take a look.

According to Wikipedia, a dozen other countries celebrate some type of “Thanksgiving Day.”
AUSTRALIA: : American sailing ships brought the holiday to Norfolk Island where it is celebrated the day before the last Thursday in October, or a month before our observance.
UNITED KINGDOM: Unlike the United States, there is no set date. Traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the harvest moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox, where it has roots going back to the Saxons where wheat and other grains were offered to fertility gods. At reaping time communities came together to celebrate with a harvest supper. When Christianity came to the country, the observance was continued. Today it is celebrated in churches and schools from late September into early October, where food is collected and donated to local charities. 

JAPAN: Labor Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday, celebrated on November 23rd. Again, American influence during the occupation, following World War II, encouraged the holiday, although it has roots in an ancient Shinto ceremony.
JUDAISM: Reform Judaism does not ban Thanksgiving because it is considered secular, not religious.

SAINT LUCIA: Celebrated on the first Monday in October, it has no known foundation.
PHILIPPINES: The Philippines became an American territory following the Spanish/American War of 1898 and continued until 1946 when they were granted autonomy at the end of World War II. During the Japanese occupation both Filipinos and Americans there celebrated Thanksgiving secretly. During the years of martial law it was also secretly observed. It returned during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. After his ouster in 1986, the tradition disappeared. Since 2001 it has been revived among workers employed by American employers.

THE NETHERLANDS: A non-denominational Thanksgiving Day service is held each year on the morning of the American Thanksgiving Day at a Gothic church in Leiden, noting the hospitality the Pilgrims received in Leiden on their way to the New World. 
Orthodox Protestant churches celebrate it on the first Wednesday in November, although it is not a public holiday.

LIBERIA: Thanksgiving occurs on the first Thursday in November, celebrating the 1820 colonization of freed black slaves from the United States.
GRENADA: Celebrated on October 25th, this holiday has no relationship to the Canadian and American traditions, although it is celebrated during the same time period. It actually marks the anniversary of the U.S. invasion of the island in 1983.
CANADA: Celebrated on the second Monday in October to give thanks to the end of harvesting. There are some religious ceremonies but mostly this is a secular event and is a statutory holiday throughout the country with the exception of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 

CHINA: In China they celebrate an “August Moon” festival, which falls on the 15th day of 8th lunar month of the Chinese Calendar. It is traditionally believed that when the moon is brightest, lovers speak out their heart to each other, and that women are similes to warm and compassionate virtues and own the gift of fertility, the same as mother earth.
BRAZIL: Quite similar to the American Thanksgiving. An Ambassador of Brazil, on a visit to the United States, was taken by the humbleness of our Thanksgiving and took it back to his country where it is celebrated as an expression of gratitude to Almighty for an enormous harvest.

(Thanksgiving around the world)

SOUTH KOREA: Their Thanksgiving, known as Chu-Sok begins on the 14th night of August and continues for 3 days. Prior to the evening meal, the family gathers in moonlight in remembrance of ancestors and forefathers. Children are garbed in long-prescribed dress, dancing a circle with the inherent desire of being blessed.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Now to the Thanksgiving roots we so delightfully celebrate as though our world was discovered in tact, with Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue sitting down there on Manhattan Island waiting for our business. That’s no where near what happened and all the happy greeting at Plymouth Rock did not exactly happen that way.
The Indians were not down at the docks welcoming the straggling mess of civilization that came ashore near Plymouth Rock. Most passengers and crew were suffering from exposure, malnutrition, scurvy and numerous other contagious diseases. Only half of the original crew that boarded the Mayflower in England actually reached the New World. The rest died at sea where there remains were fed to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

The passengers and crew aboard the Mayflower were mostly members of the English Separatist Church who took shelter in the Netherlands. Their adventure into the New World was designed to seek a better future. They were destined from the beginning to encounter failure. The weather only worsened the disaster-in-the-making. That anyone survived was a miracle. One Abenaki Indian greeted the Pilgrims in English (much to the surprise of everyone involved).
He then departed , returning several days later with Squanto, from the Pawtuxet Tribe who was later sold in slavery to an English sea captain: some reward to the man who saved the straggling adventurers.

Despite his own situation, Squanto became a teacher to these strangers from across the water. He taught them much about their new habitat: how to cultivate corn, make syrup from the sap of maple trees, fish the Massachusetts rivers, and avoid poisonous plants.
Squanto became a mediator between the various tribes and their new visitors, uniting them with the native Americans. Of the various tribes in the area, the Wampanoags tribe is one of only a few who kept a peaceful relationship with their European invaders over the years.
So how did our Thanksgiving come about? We probably learned the basics in kindergarten, but today most have only a general idea. 
In November 1621, the colonial Governor William Bradford organized a feast to thank the Native American hosts for their kindness. Ninety-one Native Americans joined them for the occasion.

We know, from historical documents, that it was a three-day celebration that featured fowl (probably wild turkeys) and five deer that were brought to the feast by the Wampanoags.
They were celebrating the first year of survival with their benefactors. There is no place that I can find where pumpkin pie was part of the deal, nor cranberries-both of which are now a necessary part of the feast.

Thanksgiving in America became an irregular event, randomly celebrated. It was not until Franklin Roosevelt became president that it became a national holiday. He declared that it should be celebrated one week prior to the next to last Thursday in November. There was an uproar in political circles. In 1941, sanctioned as a legal holiday by Congress, it was passed that Thanksgiving would be a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday in November. A tradition was born.

I have also come upon something else about Thanksgiving, generally not known: we believe that the first Thanksgiving was the one that was celebrated by the Mayflower survivors. Not true. Thanksgiving Day was celebrated on September 8, 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest permanent settlement in North America, when Pedro Menendez de Aviles and his men shared a feast with the natives, more than fifty years before Plymouth Rock. 

At the beginning of this story I spoke of changes. Over the years, our traditional Thanksgiving has taken on additional reasons for its existence. Today, Thanksgiving isn’t just about turkey and all the trimmings: charity and giving has emerged as a cause. Football games and parades have become focused on pretty much everything but the Mayflower crowd. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, with all its Disney balloon characters and other commercial floats, is an introduction to Christmas shopping. Turkey Day has become a celebration of commercialism just like every other American holiday. The Mayflower and its sickly passengers have passed into oblivion. Yes, time changes things. Yes, time marches on…but has it ever occurred to us that maybe we are out of step with the music that time plays? Just sayin’
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Recent studies verify that humanizing pets it can be a new mental disorder, people really love animals, and ‘it’s normal that we want to take care of them, yet it has become more and more common to see pets in strollers instead of taking walks, or with hats and shoes. Some pets may need the strollers or even the shoes, but not all of them. That is something you have to discuss it with your vet, if your dog or cat should be using these kinds of accessories, they are simply living beings.

People, on the other hand, are more complicated, because although animals have emotions and consciousness, humans act with selfishness. We as a species take over everything the planet can give, nature, environment and yes, animals. Living beings in our power, years of using the animals, and other existing things; Mother Nature might have come with an act of revenge. But though it sounds catastrophic, it may be not that bad.

All kinds of diseases and mental disorders appears and starts almost every year, and if you see the glass half full, you can think that loving animals too much that you ‘don’t want to reproduce, it ‘doesn’t sound that evil; but this behavior could counterproductive because it can produce psychological and physical issues to the pets — psychological such as depression and anxiety; and physical like eating disorders and others.

‘That’s why all people that have a pet take the advice of the specialists and veterinarians, so their companion animal can live as natural as possible, like free animals, and not like humanized, with the purpose to live their life to the fullest.

Animals are adorable, and we should all take care of them, but with our pets, it’s is a little different from how we should treat them. They have needs and desires like every living being, but pets also need supervision, yet not that much as a baby does. Generations like Millennials and Gen X see pets as an alternative option from having children, and they have some valid reasons like they can be cheaper, or they simply may not be ready in starting a family.

But ‘it’s true that this is a situation happening all over the globe, and even that is not a severe problem, we should analyze what it can grow bigger and ‘it’s not healthy for the pets nor the owners. Even the greatest dog trainer Cesar Millán has talked about this. Humanize pets ‘it’s not good for anyone, and in an interview, he said: “People is not taking care of the necessities that an animal can have, they only focus on themselves“

For this and many other reasons, is totally necessary to raise awareness in current generations and those to come, so they can learn how to treat pets like they should be treated, and that way the animals can grow naturally and without the psychological and physical issues the humans already have created on them.

An excellent way to dehumanize them is to implement specific activities and different diets, according to the pet they have. For instance with dogs, taking walks and running, it’s a good direction; with cats, having climbers so they can feel like total tigers in the wild; if you have another type of pet, you should directly talk to your vet to see what you can do to make your furry friend (or maybe not furry) the happiest.

Because we all know that our pets are part of the family, but we need to take care of them like they should be treated, and all they do is loving us, so the least we should do is love them back.

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