The news has been covering the challenges of COVID-19 vaccination. There has been significant disagreement among populations regarding whether to receive the vaccination, whether to force it upon those who have thus far persistently declined it, and more. I knew several who declined the vaccination, but I don't personally know anyone that has avoided both infection and vaccination as this endemic continues to wane. The courts have stopped most airplane mask mandates, and most recently (Friday) the US has stopped testing people who wish to fly into the US.
The Mayo Clinic reports that about 67% of the U.S. population is "fully vaccinated," and about 78% have had at least one dose. According to Our World in Data, The United Arab Emirates has the highest rate a about 99%. The rate is creeping upwards each week, but there is no real hope of 100%, even with the impending approval of a fourth vaccine and the possible trend to more variant-specific vaccines. But, with the addition of those carrying antibodies from their infection(s) with the virus, the population that is largely protected is more significant still.
Some people simply do not want the vaccination. They maintain this despite their potential losses from refusal. In February CBC reported that a man lost the privilege of visiting with his children because he refused vaccination. The Judge reportedly noted that the decision was made "with a heavy heart," but the interest of an immunocompromised child, who might be endangered by visits with the man or from her siblings having visits with the man, outweighed the "right to see his . . . child." There has been excitement about athletes. Novak DJokovic made the news as he fought to gain entry to Australia for its tennis open. By and large, the law has sided against those who eschew(ed) vaccination.
Others seem willing to go to great lengths to receive it. In January 2022, a New York high school biology teacher was arrested after evidence surfaced of her administering the inoculation to a 17-year-old student in her home. Imagine a minor getting medical care without parental consent? The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that only medically trained workers should perform injections because of the need to consider the patient's medical history and to administer the shot correctly. And, who would undergo a medical procedure without someone competent to monitor the potential side effects.
In April 2022, a German man was investigated for getting vaccinated repeatedly. Authorities allege that he received "87 doses of the vaccine," sometimes three shots per day. The claim is that he was taking these shots to obtain "vaccine passports" for those who are unwilling to receive the vaccination. Two New Yorkers are accused of simply forging vaccine cards for profit, garnering about $1.5 million according to NBC News. This seems to support that despite the desire to avoid vaccination, there are some societal pressures driving people to wish to appear vaccinated.
There have been side effects noted. The CDC reports the probable effects to include "pain, redness, and swelling" at the inoculation site, and "tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea" may be present "throughout the rest of your body." I have never known anyone to have a headache except in the head, and this is therefore intriguing. One might wonder if those side effects are more widespread or intense when you are inoculated three times a day? Early in the pandemic a lawyer sincerely challenged a vaccine inquiry describing his belief that side effects and implications can take years to manifest and be understood. There have been examples to support such a timeline.
There is much emphasis on and discussion of the "long COVID." This is discussed at length in Long Covid Seminar (April 2022) and Another Long COVID View (May 2022). As the workers' compensation community discusses COVID, the tenor of conversation seems to be shifting from the initial topics of compensability, presumptions, and state action. While the workers' compensation financial impacts of COVID overall have been said to be manageable, there are those who express concerns about the potential exposures, evidentiary issues, and more related to Long COVID. Recent news claims that Long-COVID numbers "are soaring," and thus concern. That word, "COVID" has come to our lexicon to stay, and it will be decades before it has the opportunity to fade.
In that vein, it is worth noting that some contend that vaccines themselves "may cause Long-COVID-like symptoms," potentially presenting risk to employers who mandate vaccination as a condition of employment. CNBC recently noted that such mandates/requirements appear to be declining. And, in news that is even less positive, the Washington Post reported that while vaccines have been quite effective at reducing "the risk of death or serious illness," they appear to provide only about a 15% reduced risk of the Long-COVID.
Likely, the debates will continue. Some will champion and others will naysay. Some will suffer side effects, others infection. There will be full recoveries and there will be pernicious persistence. As our world evolves, it is likely that more will become known about SARS-CoV-2, and this COVID with which we have struggled for over two years (See Happy Anniversary (March 2022)). How we are protected, how long, and how well will likely be topics long discussed as the 2020 pandemic fades into the distance behind us.
Hopefully, the fading part is rapid and the persistent part is minimal. But, the potential for future such experiences remains. Perhaps these pages will be of interest in one hundred years or more (we hope) when the next such pandemic comes. Hopefully, that world will be as incrementally successful as the COVID experience. While tragic and devastating, as yet our experience, 6.3 million dead, has been nowhere near the 50 million believed to have perished from the 1918 flu. Imagine if science and medicine can so advance that the next incident is likewise 85% less lethal.
In the meantime, the SARS-CoV-2 fades from primacy and our efforts turn collectively to challenges of the economy. Those will focus largely on the workplace, and America's workers and employers will have much with which to contend in inflation, supply chains, skill shortages, automation, and more. Interesting days indeed lie ahead for work and therefore for workers' compensation.
