One size fits all notions of "new normal" pose threats to our national security

Last update: Saturday 4/9/22 

The New York Times recently reported that at least 53 of the people who attended an exclusive dinner party in Washington, DC, had contracted COVID. Some of the  victims in this super spreader event were high level government officials,  persons who have regular close contact with President Biden. Not to worry, soothed a prominent medical pundit. Her op ed in the Washington Post suggested that these kinds of super spreader events are the stuff of the new normal to which we will all have to become accustomed in order to live with COVID ... Oh, really? All of us? One size guidance fits all of us? No exceptions? Not even the friends and associates of the president of the United States of America, the leader of the free world? Not even the president himself?

Links to the articles just referenced are as follows:

• "At least 53 people have tested positive for the coronavirus after attending an A-list Washington dinner.", Alexandra E. Petri, NY Times, 4/8/22
• "The Gridiron Club outbreak shows what living with covid-19 looks like, Leana S. Wen, Washington Post, 4/7/22

Some of the "new normal" behavior cited in the articles include:

• "Attendees were required to show proof of vaccination but not a negative test result, and face masks were not required during the program" ... NY Times
  
• "Still, that does not mean large events should be canceled. To the contrary, the Gridiron Club outbreak shows what living with covid-19 looks like." ... Washington Post

The Post's pundit also declared:  

• "I also think it’s acceptable if event organizers choose not to exercise precautions, and instead put the onus on individuals to decide the acceptable risk for their own medical situation. A lot of people will decide that because they are vaccinated and boosted, it’s extremely unlikely that they will become severely ill and that they are fine with the increased possibility of infection." ... Washington Post

Did the pundit forget that we should also consider the vulnerability of our personal and professional associates before deciding how much risk we can take when deciding to reduce our mitigations? According to the Times, the following friends and associates of President Biden tested positive after the Gridiron dinner:

•  Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; Attorney General Merrick B. Garland; Valerie Biden Owens, the president’s sister; and Representative Adam B. Schiff of California.

Indeed, a Post reporter focused on the president's own questionable mitigations:

• "Mask, no mask: Biden’s pandemic practices vary as covid risks grow", Annie Linskey and Dan Diamond, Washington Post, 4/9/22

Her article notes that:

• "Most of the time, President Biden doesn’t wear a mask, but occasionally he’s spotted with one. Sometimes his events are in crowded indoor rooms, other times outdoors."
  
  
• "When the last month is taken into account, Biden has come in contact with at least four people who tested positive either shortly after, or right before, interacting with him."
  
  
• "Over the past 14 days, Biden has had at least 18 events where he has interacted with members of the public, including Biden walking around in a crowded mess hall in Rzeszów, Poland, to buck up U.S. troops. That put him unmasked and indoors in a country that the CDC warns Americans to avoid and recommends those traveling to wear masks at all times indoors."

Now here's link to an article that tells a tale that none of us wants to hear: Omicron breakthrough deaths may be occurring with unexpected frequency among people who are vaccinated and fully boosted. 

•  "COVID-19 deaths in California among vaccinated rose sharply with omicron", John Woolfolk, Harriet Blair Rowan, and Emily Deruy, Mercury News, 3/6/22

Of course, one story is just an anecdote; its findings should not be regarded as scientifically validated phenomena yet, and perhaps they never will be. But we dare not commit one of the CDC's most dangerous blunders by not raising warnings about dangerous possibilities until we have enough evidence for these possibilities to become scientific realities, decorated with p-values and all of the other required scientific regalia. 

The point here is simple. Omicron, like every other COVID-19 variant, prefers to kill old people, the older, the deader. Recently, the CDC and FDA authorized second booster shots for people 50 and over. Neither agency declared that second boosters would banish breakthrough infections. So our old president should remain risk averse with regards to the virus. Even if the probability is relatively low that he would die if he became infected, the consequences of his sudden death for America would be catastrophic in too many ways to enumerate here. 

Of course, he wants to appear young and vigorous, but he's almost 80, and everyone knows this. Two years into the pandemic, everyone in America also knows that the oldest people in our society are the most vulnerable to the virus, so nobody would be surprised or disappointed if President Biden continued to wear masks everywhere, especially N95 or KN95 respirators ... not surprised or disappointed if he maintained social distancing from all but the small number of the staff in his innermost circle of advisers ... and not surprised or disappointed to learn that he avoided large meetings and would only meet with people (other than his innermost advisers) who had tested negative just before the meetings, especially when traveling to foreign countries.

Dear Mr. President, for the duration of the pandemic/endemic, no matter how young and vigorous you may feel, your only responsible option is to act your biological age because your biological age is the only age of interest to the virus.

Full disclosure requires that the editor of this blog acknowledge that he is about one year older than the president.

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Links to related notes on this blog:  

• "Resuming responsibility for our own healthcare with help from COVID.gov ... Revised 4/7/22", Last update: 4/7/22