More Deep Thoughts Day

Some news outlets are reporting on the COVID Delta variant in an irresponsible manner. While it's hard to fit iterative scientific discoveries into one simple Twitter-length sound bite, here are 4 simple facts to keep in mind:

1. Vaccines are working. They convert the heavy questions of "Will I need to go to the hospital? Will I have long-term disabilities or die?" into the annoyance of "Will I feel bad for a few days? Will I need to cancel my plans and have to contact trace?"
2. Equating "unvaccinated" with "anti-vax" demonizes at least 40 million kids under 12 and immunocompromised adults with legitimate reasons for not being protected. There are simple, compassionate ways we can continue to protect these people, like getting vaccinated ourselves and indoor masking.
3. Every time someone gets COVID, vaccinated or not, in the States or elsewhere, there is a small chance for the virus to mutate into a more deadly form that our current vaccines can no longer counteract. We aren't there yet, and we don't ever have to get there as long as we work together for the good of the people around us.
4. It's easy to manufacture extreme emotions on the Internet. The next time you feel panic or outrage because of an article you read, please take a step back and evaluate whether the situation truly warrants it or whether the article was intentionally designed to steer you in a particular way for the sake of clicks and ad revenue.