Never in our history has this country confronted 2 such formidable crises as those we now face. I am going to assume that the FBI and the Department of Justice will effectively handle the immediate fallout from Trump’s armed insurrection against the Republic and focus my attention on the worsening Covid epidemic that the United States continues to botch.

Covid continues to advance through our society like a California wildfire. The pandemic has already killed over 400,000 of our fellow citizens, hospitalized millions more, and infected tens of millions of us. In addition (as if we needed anything more), the virus is eviscerating this Nation’s economy in every possible metric beyond the stock market. People out of work or underemployed; millions of families facing evictions; day-long lines for assistance at straining food banks; and a distant, possibly bleak, recovery – these are the true faces of the Covid economic impacts. The worst news of all is that the next month or two will be worse.

We all know the factors and missteps that brought us to this stage – a novel coronavirus comes out of China and spreads through the world’s population; the Trump administration botches the critical, initial response; the public health infrastructure is unable to contain the virus; the Trump administration botches the essential supplying of our hospitals; a significant proportion of the US population balks at any and all societal interventions; and the Trump administration botches every element of the communication strategy aimed to help the population understand and respond to this virus.

So, why are all of the knowledgeable health authorities so worried about the coming months? Three reasons, really: the holiday get-togethers have come home to roost and the results are as cataclysmic as predicted; a new, more infectious strain of the virus is reproducing in our population; and, the Trump administration has botched the vaccine rollout in spectacular fashion (notice the continued theme from the last paragraph?).

I‘ll Be Home for Christmas: Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the US, is currently deluged with Covid hospitalizations, ICU bed utilization, and deaths. Patients being housed in ambulances for up to 8 hours before even being seen in an ER. Patients dying in hallways while waiting for an ICU bed to open up by some other patient dying. Triaging of the very ill because of lack of resources. Nearly every state is setting records for new case infections through mid-January and will inevitably see hospitalizations climb precipitously within 2 weeks, and mortality records to follow. Throughout the US, counties in which college students make up more than 25% of the population have experienced dramatically higher numbers of infections since students have returned from vacation. Everyone was duly warned that this would happen and this is what happened. The virus does what it does. It always does what it does. Until it does it even better.

New Covid Strain: Researchers in Britain discovered a new, more infectious strain of Covid in late December. That strain, or a similar mutated Covid strain, has already been identified in multiple US states. Studies have indicated that the strain is 50-70% more infectious than the previous dominant strain of Covid. The reality is that the more infectious strain will quickly become the predominant strain of Covid throughout this country. That outcome is inevitable. The end result is that we now face a virus that is much more infectious than a virus that we were already failing to control. For you non-epidemiologists: that is not good. More research needs to be done, but it is quite possible that the interventions that we have been trying to instill in everyone to control the virus may need to be enhanced somewhat.

Botched Vaccine Rollout: What a cluster! I intend to write a few essays about this issue over the next few days, so I will be succinct here. What did you expect? Billions spent on vaccine development and production (good), a military approach to vaccine distribution to a non-military population (bad), CDC sidelined in a plan to distribute a vaccine to the US population (worse), and no financial or logistical support to state and local health departments to actually inoculate 330 million of us (worst). Just go away already and take the orange guy with you. We’re just so done with all of you and your ineptitude and your lies.

Final thought – with the new, more infectious strain, you need to be a little more careful again. Make sure your mask fits well around your nose and mouth. If you’re wearing a cloth mask, try to find masks that are comprised of 2 layers of cloth instead of 1. Avoid indoor areas. No indoor dining. Try to grocery shop during off hours. If moving through an unavoidable small group of people, move quickly and hold your breath until you’re clear of them. Even outdoors, avoid long conversations with people outside your bubble. Until we know more, wash hands frequently (good for flu season anyway). Take no unnecessary risks. When available to your group, get both doses of the vaccine.

Stay well. Stay informed. Wear the mask. Get the shot.