Now I'm a "Covid Virgin" 🙄
I saw an article in my newsfeed Friday from The Atlantic, America Is Running Out of ‘COVID Virgins’. Subsequently that term, "Covid Virgin", seemed to pop up on other news articles over the weekend. It seemed to be part of what-can-we-talk-about-now news cycle of President Biden testing positive for Covid-19 two days earlier.
I take this turn of phrase, "Covid Virgin", personally. It means people like me (I've never had Covid) and it is not meant kindly. In popular culture to call someone a virgin is at best polite snickering over their putative lack of physical beauty and/or ineptness at romance. Indeed the Atlantic article paints "Covid Virgins" in a negative light right in its subhead with the rhetorical question, If you haven’t gotten the coronavirus, are you a sitting duck?
No, people like me are not sitting ducks. I have avoided Covid for 2+ years through not just luck but also lots of good judgment and preparation. Starting in March 2020 I drastically reduced my outings to stores, restaurants, and events. I wore a mask everywhere in public indoors settings starting when the CDC recommended shortly thereafter and I still do. I suspended travel for months and eased back into it with an eye on public health recommendations and data. I got my vaccination when it was first available to me. I got not just one but two boosters, also when they were first available. In short, I'm healthy in part because I've done things right.
Social matters do hit a tipping point though, a point after which up becomes down, good becomes bad, and right becomes wrong. As in the classic Dr. Seuss children's story, once there are enough Star Bellied Sneetches it becomes a mark of shame to be a Plain Bellied Sneetch. The Atlantic article cites a recent study from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation estimating that 82% of Americans have had Covid already. When we're the 18% it's easy for vast majority to start shaming us with terminology.
But here's the thing the smug people in the 82% should remember: Losing your Covid V-card won't help you. People are getting reinfected. Prior infection alone is weak protection- weaker than getting vaccinated, weaker than precautions like wearing a face mask correctly in high risk situations, and weaker than making wiser choices where possible.
I take this turn of phrase, "Covid Virgin", personally. It means people like me (I've never had Covid) and it is not meant kindly. In popular culture to call someone a virgin is at best polite snickering over their putative lack of physical beauty and/or ineptness at romance. Indeed the Atlantic article paints "Covid Virgins" in a negative light right in its subhead with the rhetorical question, If you haven’t gotten the coronavirus, are you a sitting duck?
No, people like me are not sitting ducks. I have avoided Covid for 2+ years through not just luck but also lots of good judgment and preparation. Starting in March 2020 I drastically reduced my outings to stores, restaurants, and events. I wore a mask everywhere in public indoors settings starting when the CDC recommended shortly thereafter and I still do. I suspended travel for months and eased back into it with an eye on public health recommendations and data. I got my vaccination when it was first available to me. I got not just one but two boosters, also when they were first available. In short, I'm healthy in part because I've done things right.
Social matters do hit a tipping point though, a point after which up becomes down, good becomes bad, and right becomes wrong. As in the classic Dr. Seuss children's story, once there are enough Star Bellied Sneetches it becomes a mark of shame to be a Plain Bellied Sneetch. The Atlantic article cites a recent study from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation estimating that 82% of Americans have had Covid already. When we're the 18% it's easy for vast majority to start shaming us with terminology.
But here's the thing the smug people in the 82% should remember: Losing your Covid V-card won't help you. People are getting reinfected. Prior infection alone is weak protection- weaker than getting vaccinated, weaker than precautions like wearing a face mask correctly in high risk situations, and weaker than making wiser choices where possible.