On November 18, Dr. Anthony Fauci, reassuringly said, “The cavalry is on its way. It’s not here yet, but it’s going to come. We have an even better than expected efficacy signal on two vaccines. We’re likely to already start having distribution of doses, hopefully by the end of December but certainly no later than the beginning of January. If we can hang on and implement the public health measures, help really is on 9he way.”

At the same time, he nixed the possibility of another national lockdown, insisting, though, that, going forward and for the long haul, we continue to:

  • Uniformly wear our masks
  • Physically distance ourselves from others
  • Avoid congregating, especially indoors
  • Weather permitting, doing things outdoors
  • Frequently wash our hands

His bottom line: “A return to pre-pandemic normalcy could be in the offing by the second half of next year if most of the country’s 330 million people are vaccinated by the summer and fall.”

In fact, Pfizer has already applied for emergency vaccine approval in the United States, and the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee will meet on December 10 to consider the request. Moderna plans to follow suit shortly,

Meanwhile, once approved, here are a few important things to keep in mind:

  1. The government has spent more than $10 billion on creating vaccines.
  2. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at -94 degrees Fahrenheit; the biopharmaceutical company has created its own GPS-tracked distribution coolers.
  3. The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, given 3 weeks apart.
  4. The Moderna vaccine also needs to be kept cold but only at -4 degrees Fahrenheit, as in a regular freezer.
  5. The Moderna vaccine also requires two doses, given 4 weeks apart.
  6. The second doses of both versions show “striking success.”
  7. The vaccines may or may not make us feel crappy and our arms sore for a day or two.
  8. The Feds have pre-purchased hundreds of millions of vaccine doses.

Of interest: There are those who don’t trust the vaccine, while recently an Axios-Ipsos survey asked adults how much they’d willingly pay to get vaccinated. A stunning 33% said they wouldn’t pay a thing.

Hard times? Fear? Entitlement? Not participating?

Or one more sign of our divisiveness, as USA Today’s Alia E. Dastagir recently reminded us: “They [political scientists & public healthy experts] believed the reality of what was happening in people’s cities and towns would trump political identity, unifying the nation in its fight against a deadly threat. It hasn’t. And it may never.”

And so it goes this season of giving thanks. ~Carol