When the Covid Convos series launched back in March — and that seems like a lifetime ago — we all thought it would be short-lived. We believed that we as a country (if not a world) would do the right thing (thanks, Spike Lee), wear our masks, and distance ourselves physically while remaining connected.
We’d flatten that curve and get coronavirus behind us by summer, in time to ride our favorite favorite roller coasters, attend baseball games and fireworks displays, and enjoy poolside barbecue with friends and family, free of masks or rampant, airborne, lethal viruses.
It was neither the first time, nor will it be the last, that we were wrong. Dead wrong.
Over six months and over 205,000 COVID-related fatalities in, and in the wake of a president who consistently downplayed the virus and politicized face coverings, it looks like we’re in it for the long haul. Contrary to what the president has to say, most medical experts agree that we won’t have a vaccine by November 3rd.
Even if we do, getting that vaccine to a large enough number of people to make a difference is going to be a challenge. I’m as sick of COVID-19 and its restrictions as you are, but we’ll be bedmates with the virus for awhile.
Last weekend, I learned that self advocacy — plain ol’ speaking up for yourself — is as formidable a protection from coronavirus as are masks and social distancing. If fact, it may be more effective.
Read MPC’s full column, and learn about his most powerful weapon again coronavirus.
Michael P Coleman is a freelance writer who, as a kid, talked to strangers and got punished. Today, he talks to strangers and gets published. Follow his blog, his IG and his Twitter.
