Just when we thought that our masks were coming off and vaccines were killing the dreaded Covid19, here come the variants! Sneaky little buggers they are, altering their approach to our waiting cell membranes ever so slightly. As subtle as the changes are, they can be enough to fake out our immune systems and cause havoc. There will undoubtedly be another rash of vaccines to combat the variants of the adaptable, and frankly inspirational viruses.
Inspirational? If each of us cohabitants of the biosphere could tweak and rapidly alter our non-adaptive ways, peeling off into a more successful alternative as painlessly as viruses do, the psychologists and psychiatrists would be out of business.
The culprit for we humans is learned behavior. Once we learn a behavior it becomes our go-to. If that behavior isn’t working or becomes obsolete “it must be someone else’s fault” and “things just aren’t fair in life.” Our ability to embrace variant behavior when an existing one isn’t working can be a laborious chore. Not so for viruses. They can’t think but they sure can adapt! When a strain isn’t working it simply drops off when a new one competes more successfully. As skilled as Big Pharma is, it can’t keep up with the cunning little viruses.
As for masks, I am dreading the heat of summer and inhaling humid exhalations. And as for social distancing, isn’t solitary confinement the ultimate punishment in prisons? When I hear the term “herd immunity” I want to say “MOO!” All of this said, and having had Covid, I’m glad to be vertical and not horizontal.
Blessings on our immune systems, Rosanne Bostonian
