There May Be Progress on Covid

 Although the United States will pass the threshold of 900,000 Covid deaths in the next two or three days, there seems to be a continued decrease in the rate of new cases. I have not seen much recently about the vaccine status of those who are dying, but most recently, it was over 90% unvaccinated. With all the new cases, and slow progress in vaccination, we may be approaching herd immunity and might be able to return to some semblance of normal behavior soon. So I won't have to be so careful to remember to pick up a mask on my way out the door.puts 

World news reports do keep reminding us that only half the world is vaccinated, so Covid could continue to spread through many countries for a long time, which means it could come back here even after the new case numbers reach a low point again. And another variant could also develop.

My daughter is home schooling her boys because the younger one is too young to get the vaccine, though he will reach his 5th birthday soon. In a couple of months he could be fully vaccinated. Maybe then she will return her boys to school. They have not had a typical school experience so far. Both started in a Montessori school for preschool. The older one did not start kindergarten on time because of Covid, only attending classes beginning in Spring of 2021. The younger boy was back in a Montessori school in Fall of 2021, and the older in first grade at a public elementary school. I begin to wonder when either of them will complete a whole year of uninterrupted school. I wonder how they will think about things in ten years.

My daughter is taking classes at a community college. Her classes are online, but her list has needed adjustments a few times along the way. I think she is in her third semester, but I'm not sure I remember correctly. She is wicked smart and I thought she should go to college long ago, but she had other plans. Now she is trying to manage her own education and teach her boys, managing what they all need under conditions of restriction in public activities. We're a fairly bright family, so I expect everyone will get an education that them in the upper ranges, in so far as such things can be measured, but it may take some time to get there, and the disruptions could result in gaps or extra work due to disjointed progress through every topic.

I hate Covid, and I wish the United States had had decent leadership from the beginning of this pandemic so we weren't the very worst country in our response. My family deserves better. I hope we can all move past this soon.