Once upon a time, if you recall, a then-unnamed virus supposedly emanating from Chinese live-animal markets was going to be a problem for three or four months before burning itself out. That was March 2020, and here we are, still dealing with COVID’s human tragedy and economic dislocations in December 2021. That’s 21 months, not three or four, and the specific virus form at this point is the so-called Omicron variant. More or less transmissible than the others? Vaccine-resistant, or vaccine-vulnerable? Back to masks and lockdowns, or never again? Who knows, but there’s no shortage of shrill commentary, even with a distinct scarcity of data. What do we know? We know for sure why “COVID fatigue,” which must be the expression of 2021, has become such a popular expression.
Continue reading “A Whimper or a Bang?”