The Bay Area was a model for cooperation early in the COVID pandemic. Residents took shelter indoors, queued for vaccines and wore masks in public. Many locals watched in amazement as health precautions were politicized in other parts of the country.
But even in this conscientious area, vigilance has not persisted.As
Another winter COVID surge
Take control of the area, many people
throw away the mask
When
Skip latest booster
— An important tool to prevent serious illness, as previous vaccinations and infections weaken immunity.
Since the advent of vaccines and better COVID treatments, and the lifting of blunt government measures such as mask mandates,
coronavirus
Became
More laissez-faire.
this approach
“Think for yourself”
pandemic era. However, individual choices have taken a heavy toll on vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, some of whom are withdrawing from public spaces once again.
The widespread indifference to the recent surge has caused considerable confusion about how to act at this stage of the crisis. Experts specifically say the deployment of the new bivalent vaccine booster is the first to target both the original coronavirus and the Omicron family of variants. Without government resources, many Americans are unaware of the benefits of boosters, even their existence.
“The situation is that people as individuals are left to make decisions,” says Dennis Hurd, a professor of behavioral sciences at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. Without much support for some of the measures, we’ll see what to do now.”
To date, only 20.5% of eligible Californians have received the bivalent vaccine, leaving the majority vulnerable to more serious illnesses.california intake
National average 14.6%,
However, this is only a fraction of the 72.5% of people who received the first two series of vaccines.Bivalent vaccine is licensed for Californians
6 months or more,
depending on
When someone completes the first two dose series and finally receives the old “monovalent” booster.
Bay Area counties lead the California average in booster intake, but the percentage remains relatively low, ranging from 23% to 38% of the eligible population.maybe it contributes
Sharp increase in local COVID cases
last month and
Increase in hospitalized patients
Outbreaks of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) will further strain an already strained healthcare system.
‘Pandemic Fatigue’ and Confusion
Marin County Public Health Officer Matt Willis said some fatigue from the pandemic is “normal, normal and real.”he said the term
I am using it since 2020.
Perhaps now, “we are suffering from pandemic fatigue,” Willis said.
After all, self-regulation is “like a muscle that gets tired,” said Benjamin Rosenberg, a professor of psychology at Dominican University in California. “It’s exhausting to calculate the risk every time you go out,” he said.
a
Recent Chronicle Survey
Despite the current COVID resurgence, we’ve found that fewer Bay Area residents wear masks and go to the supermarket. While not a scientific study, comments made to reporters (who said those not wearing masks “give up” and “want to get on with their lives”) are public health concerns that encourage voluntary compliance. I highlighted the problem above.
Kevin Shulman, a Stanford University School of Medicine professor who studied the marketing campaign for the first vaccine in 2021, said it’s easier for people to make sound decisions when they have clear, reliable, and accessible information. The decision itself will also be relatively easy, Shulman said, and in the context of the pandemic, these attributes are hard to find.
“This is no longer the scientific effort we all follow every week,” Schulman said.
In fact, Rosenberg added that COVID has been replaced by other “big-ticket items at the top of people’s lists of things to read,” including inflation, layoffs, Ukraine, abortion rights, the Warriors, and the weather. And there’s so much bad news that it’s healthy to absorb: psychologists have actually measured.
increased news-related stress,
According to the American Psychological Association.
“Some people are literally turning away from information about COVID. It’s almost like the ‘ignorance is bliss’ instinct,” Rosenberg said.
A lack of interest undermines cooperation in public health efforts. For example, in a September poll,
half of the American population
I had heard “little or nothing” about bivalent vaccines.
But lukewarm messages and a lack of mass marketing campaigns are to blame, Schulman said. “We haven’t put as much effort into getting people to vote for someone,” he said, referring to political ads during the midterm elections.
Debbie Toth, CEO of Pleasant Hill-based nonprofit Choice in Aging, added that information is not reaching the people who need it most. Older people get their information primarily from radio and television news, and sometimes from local newspapers. “You can say that older people don’t go to public health websites and look it up,” she said.
Shortage of federal funds, mobilization
White House
admitted confusion
To some extent. But it also blames Congress for not approving additional funding to help with the coronavirus response.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control has delegated much of the pandemic response to state and local public health departments, which have said they are looking to the CDC for guidance, said a science communications expert. Professor Seema Yasmin of Stanford University School of Medicine said.
“In the meantime, hundreds of millions of Americans are thinking, ‘What’s going on, who’s to blame, what should I do?'” Yasmin said.
Resources are “really limited,” so there is no additional federal funding for mass vaccination sites or other large-scale campaigns, said Susan Phillippe, a San Francisco health official.
Programs such as sending teams of people to nursing homes to vaccinate the elderly in 2021 have been scaled back or eliminated.
“People with health insurance, computers, and transportation are the ones who can really choose to get vaccinated or not,” says Herd of UC Berkeley.
Some of the older and disabled people involved
The urge to return to a “normal” life
may be stronger
Among younger people, but they are also at lower risk. According to the latest data, more than half of confirmed COVID cases in California are in young people between the ages of 18 and 49.
State COVID-19 Dashboard.
Yet Californians over the age of 65, one-sixth of the population, account for nearly three-quarters of the state’s confirmed deaths.
Another group at high risk of serious illness and hospitalization are those with compromised immune systems. Disabled author, speaker and model Charice Hill, who suffers from the inflammatory disease ankylosing spondylitis, has been quarantined in self-defense as masks are removed and precautions dissolve. rice field.
“The fatigue of many non-disabled people is that they want to travel again,” Hill said. “My fatigue is that I want autonomy over my life and daily living activities.”
Getting back to normal ignores that “normally has never been good for people with disabilities,” Hill said.
Some jurisdictions are now moving to restore limited regulation.Last week, Auckland City Council
reimposed mask requirements
Inside a public building after lobbying from groups such as Senior & Disability Action.
Senior & Disabled Action Director Jessica Lehman despaired at the idea that if most elderly and disabled people go to the hospital and die, COVID isn’t serious. It reinforces the idea of ”low importance and low value in society.”
However, most public health officials are reluctant to make masks mandatory. “Unless the virus changes significantly, we will not mandate action,” Willis said.
possible solution
Without outright mandates and costly marketing and incentive campaigns, health professionals are finding ways to reengage the general public in slowing the virus’ progress and in protecting themselves.
Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Dr. Sarah Cody said:
Simple measures like providing free masks at building entrances and offering patients to get the bivalent vaccine when they go to the doctor or pick up a prescription from the pharmacy can go a long way. The key, according to Rosenberg of the Dominican Republic, is to bring their attention to the “fleeting moment” that motivates them.
Vaccine rebranding may also be included. If some of the fatigue from the pandemic stems from anxiety, “the vaccine itself is actually a remedy because it makes us safer in all aspects,” said Marin County’s Willis.
“We need to reinforce the message that it’s very effective at keeping people out of hospitals,” added Phillip of San Francisco.
Claire Hao is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @clairehao_
