For many, the belated realization that COVID will be a 'long war' sparks anger and denial

• In May, when the CDC said fully vaccinated people could ditch masks and social distancing, it seemed to signal a return to normalcy. But epidemiologists cautioned at the time that the move wasn't likely to be permanent, and shouldn't be interpreted as the end of Covid-19 as a daily concern. Colder weather or a right hook in the virus's evolution could bring restrictions right back.
• Still, Americans seem shocked by the recent turn of events. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised everyone - even those who have had COVID shots - to go back to indoor masking, a decision driven by new data showing the hyper-contagious Delta Variant colonizes the nose and throat of some vaccinated people just as well as the unvaccinated, meaning they may just as easily spread this new version of the virus, while still being protected against the worst manifestations of the disease.
• The prospect of contending with a prolonged outbreak phase - and adjusting to a constantly evolving roster of restrictions - has brought back another feature of pandemic living in America: anger.
• This time it's not just the mostly Republican anti-masking refrain rearing its defiant head (though fights over school mask mandates have returned with a vengeance). Coast to coast, and across the political spectrum, contempt for unvaccinated people is rising. 'It;s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.,' Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, said on July 22, as her state (Alabama), with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, reeled from a 530% rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations in just three weeks.
• Among the vaccinated, there's a sense that the freedoms they gained by getting the shots - travel, eating out, concerts, sports, school, seeing friends - are now being jeopardized by those who are still holding out.
• Though this new flavour of outrage might look and sound like righteous indignation, health professionals says that what's behind it is fear.
• 'It's scary to admit that somebody else has power over you and you're at their mercy and you're afraid of them, but showing that is not a very American ideal,' said David Rosmarin, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a clinician at McLean Hospital. 'Instead of expressing that fear, it's a lot more comfortable to blame somebody else.'
• Anger is what people in his profession refer to as a 'secondary emotion.' It's a feeling that arises in response to a more primal emotion, like fear and anxiety over having some aspect of your life threatened. 'The reality is that there are millions of people who are miseducated about something, they're making a big mistake that will have massive consequences that might affect you and your family and that makes you scared,' Rosmarin said. 'But nobody is saying that.'

Stat News - 2 August, 2021