Three years into the pandemic, it has become almost impossible to keep up with all the guidelines on travel restrictions, staying at home, and social distancing. This is because as much as we are in a pandemic, businesses have to go on, children have to go to school, people have to travel and be in contact with one another, and generally, life has to move on. Therefore, some people suggest that we should throw all caution to the wind. They assert that it would be better to accelerate the spread of the virus to make it end faster. They argue that this would work the same way our parents of the former generation would put healthy children and those with chickenpox together to do away with it. Nevertheless, regarding Karen Mossman’s and Mathew Miller’s article on ‘a better post-pandemic future means not giving in to COVID-19 pandemic’, I disagree with the above sentiments of just giving up and spreading the virus faster. This is because the number of lives lost through this process would increase, the far-reaching long-term consequences of the virus, and children are known to develop type 1 diabetes after contracting COVID-19.
Accelerating the virus would lead to more deaths due to the virus. Throughout the pandemic, so many lives were lost all over the world. By November last year, the world death toll was reported to be around 5.5 million. These numbers are this high, yet countries are doing everything in their power to keep these numbers down. Thus, this leaves me wondering how many more people we would lose to the virus if the virus spread is accelerated. In their article, Mossman and Miller assert that the number of deaths would be alarmingly high if we did not have the vaccines and other ways of mitigating the virus (Mossman & Miller, 2022). Therefore, it would be unwise to use the chickenpox parties to do away with the virus.
Secondly, the long-term consequences of the virus are far-reaching. In the article, we know that long COVID has very detrimental physical and mental health repercussions (Mossman & Miller, 2022). The survivors of COVID-19, commonly known as long haulers, even after testing negative for the virus, still develop complications breathing problems, and other physiological problems. These victims may also develop mental health complications like depression due to the stigma associated with the virus. Thus, if the virus is left to spread without control, our world will be full of people who have weak immunities and mental instability.
Thirdly, one of the greatest struggles that countries have struggled with since the beginning of the virus is to protect children from contracting the virus. This is because proof has shown that children who survive COVID-19 are likely to develop type 1 diabetes. This is a very great risk to take because children are the future generation, and they need to be protected at all costs (Mossman & Miller, 2022). Similarly, the chickenpox parties that were used to eradicate the diseases ended up having adverse effects on the children well into their adulthood.
Summarily, it would be unfair to put the innocent lives of many at risk just because we are bored with putting up with the guidelines of the virus. This is because every person’s life is precious. We cannot afford to lose anyone else to the virus. The long-term consequences of the virus are far-reaching, and our future generation will be adversely affected by the uncontrolled spread of the virus. We should all unite and fight the good fight to ward off the virus.
References
Mossman, K., & Miller, M. S. (2022). A better post-pandemic future means not giving in to COVID-19 now. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/a-better-post-pandemic-future-means-not-giving-in-to-covid-19-now-176094
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