Here we go again

COVID is tiny, COVID is quick, COVID is clever, COVID makes you sick. And now there's a new one.

My kids came for Thanksgiving this year.  Two of them, Lucian V and Violet, managed to get a flight into MacArthur Airport in Islip on Long Island, a wonderful little place so bereft of flights, when I arrived to pick them up last Tuesday, there wasn’t a single person in the baggage claim area.  Not one.

My daughter Lilly, on the other hand, flew into JFK from Los Angeles.  She got herself out here to Springs on the LIRR, but her return flight was at 6 a.m, so I had to take her.  Driving through the airport’s twisting entry illustrates the folly of banning flights from South Africa and several other sub-Saharan countries.  There are gates at JFK for flights from Aer Lingus, Aeromexico, Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentinas, Air China, Air Europa, Air France, Air Italy, Air India, Air Serbia,  Alitalia, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Avianca Brasil, Azerbaijan Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Cape Air, Caribbean Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Cayman Airways, China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Copa Airlines, EgyptAir, El Al, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad, Eurowings, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia, Icelandair, Interjet, Japan Airlines, Kenya Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, Kuwait Airways, LATAM, LOT, Lufthansa, Neos, Norwegian Air, Philippine Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, Saudia, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, Ukraine International Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, Virgin Atlantic, VivaAerobus, Volaris, WestJet, and Xiamen Air.

Any of those flights could be carrying passengers from anywhere in the world.  Sure, I know they’re not just banning flights but entry by people who have passports from the banned countries as well as people who have recently traveled there.  But don’t you think there are plenty of people out there with dual or even triple citizenship, who can use any one of their passports and change flights, not to mention airlines, anywhere in the world?

I’m talking about the new COVID variant they’re calling Omicron, which sounds like the name of a robot in a new movie featuring a Transformer that can quickly alter itself from a Camaro or a Ford Mustang into a gigantic killing machine bristling with laser-shooters and ray-guns that can bring down entire office buildings with a single blast.

On second thought, maybe Omicron isn’t such a bad choice, because the way it’s being talked about by experts who are appearing every 13 seconds on cable news, the new variant might be able take down not just office buildings but entire countries with the introduction of a single case.

The panic that’s setting in is reminiscent of the early days of regular COVID back in March of last year when then-President Donald Trump wouldn’t let a cruise ship disembark because he didn’t want his COVID numbers to go up by…what was it?...15 cases?  That was before Trump’s panic over his case numbers turned into his blizzard of reassurances that “it’s going away,” remember?

It’s still unknown how effective the current crop of vaccines are against Omicron, but already Pfizer and Moderna have announced they’re working on new booster shots that may be ready for approval and shots-in-arms by early next summer.  Which doesn’t sound good, does it?  I mean, the scientists who work for those pharmaceutical companies make it their business to know more than we do and know it much, much earlier about the twists and turns this pandemic is taking, if only because every change in the virus holds the possibility to pad their bottom lines with extra-mega quantities of big bucks.

In the meantime, it’s looking like however much we have relaxed ourselves from the multiple peaks of the pandemic is over.  Even if Omicron is as transmissible and dangerous as they’re saying it is, I don’t foresee cities or states instituting close-downs.  Unless there are the kinds of fatality numbers we saw in early 2020, indoor restaurant dining is likely to continue unabated, and theaters and concert venues that have opened will remain that way.

Which means it’s up to us, folks.  If you’re not boostered, do not wait.  Make the first appointment you can get.  Whatever your masking habits have been, tighten them.  Get out the most effective masks you have and wear them every time you’re indoors in a public place or around other people outdoors.  I caught breakthrough COVID at an outdoor farmer’s market I made the mistake of assuming would be okay to visit unmasked.  I haven’t made that mistake again, I can assure you.

If and when Omicron hits, I would give some serious thought to avoiding going out as much as possible.  In South Africa, the new variant is already killing some vaccinated people, and one woman in Belgium who contracted Omicron had not traveled to any of the banned southern African countries, but had been in Egypt and Turkey. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” today, “When you have a virus that has already gone to multiple countries, inevitably, it will be here. The question is: Will we be prepared for it?” 

Especially in red states in the South and Midwest, there won’t be any preparations made by governors or legislatures that are already standing in the way of basic stuff like mask mandates in schools and vaccine mandates for businesses.  People in those states with low rates of vaccination will be traveling without restriction in this country, which means we’re all vulnerable to this latest COVID nightmare.

It’s up to us, folks.  Get boostered.  Mask up.  If you feel under the weather, get tested.  Stay safe.  Those are going to be our words to live by for the foreseeable future.