Back to life, back to community
Where do WE go from here?
No one would seriously argue against the idea that COVID has been hard on communities of all sizes, from the largest cities to the smallest towns. The pandemic hindered every support imaginable: schools, libraries, health care, and yes, churches. COVID also revealed the many inequities in the American health system. It made them all worse, too.
In fact, COVID has hurt not just communities, but the idea of community itself. Other events have not helped, to be sure. Still, after the pandemic Americans feel themselves more disconnected and divided than ever.
But by the same token, it can’t be argued that COVID didn’t jet-propel some expressions of community. People came together in hope and joy to meet the basic needs of their neighbors. They shared information and food. They provided rides to medical appointments. Some even opened their churches to provide space for vaccination clinics. (We appreciate that one!)
As a new world shaped by COVID emerges, it would be good to carry the pandemic’s lessons with us, both good and bad. We need to remember where things went wrong. We also need to take note of where they went right so we can build on success.
To that end, I want to say two things, both of them brief.1
Together, again
First, we are organizing an oral history of COVID in Wisconsin’s churches. We want to get all the lessons down on paper, or video as it were, before they’re forgotten. Tentative plans are to do interviews next spring. If you are interested in being interviewed, or know someone we should talk to, let me know. (It can be individuals or a group.)
My hope is that we can get beyond some of the arguments for and against the COVID response. We want to simply talk about what happened, and what that meant for our communities. I also hope to hear from some folks we haven’t talked to before. So really, if you’re interested, let me know.
Second, as mentioned above, people came together in hope and joy in response to the pandemic. It would be great to extend that work. It would also be good to build open some other theological virtues, such as faith and charity. There is no moving forward without trust that the future we move into is as good as, if not better than, the present we already know. Paradoxically, we can’t find that faith in securing our own future. It only happens as a result of open-hearted reciprocity in our communities. Keep believing and keep giving, is what I’m saying.
The Update
The respiratory illness season upswing is swinging, although we still appear to be lagging national trends. Of particular concern, hospitalizations for both COVID and influenza are up quite a bit.2
Emergency room visits are also up for respiratory illnesses. For COVID, the increases are driven by admissions of senior citizens and children under the age of 4. Vulnerable people, in other words. So far, there isn’t the same kind of surge for influenza, but things can escalate quickly.
Experts think the season will peak in late December. Get those vaccines and boosters, folks, especially if you’re older.
The Links
- Never let it be said that we provide only bad news. US life expectancy is on the rise post-pandemic. We still have ground to make up, and there are still big disparities to overcome, but let’s take the W, as my son says.
- As if we needed another reason to push vaccination, a University of Wisconsin study found that COVID drove a spike in premature births — and that spike ended when vaccines were introduced.
- No, blood from the Red Cross does not contain COVID vaccines. Please make a note of this for future reference.
- Oh hey! You can order another round of COVID tests through the mail!
- What COVID vaccine should you get this year? Those Nerdy Girls break it down, complete with charts that I’ve stolen and placed below.
- I don’t know if this is enough or not, but the Biden administration has talked to the manufacturers of RSV drugs for children to get them to increase production. They’ve also invoked the Defense Production Act to goose along medicines deemed “crucial for national security.”
