So after what will probably go down in history as one of the worst years on record (so far), 2020 is well behind us and the 2^nd half of 2021 is starting to look better, thanks in large part to the availability and distribution of the three, large-scale COVID vaccines.

As we look forward to brighter days, it’s important to look back on what we’ve experienced, analyze it, and see if we’ve learned anything from it.  I won’t say we take heed of our past mistakes and never repeat them (history bears that out time and time again), but here are a few of my observations from the past twelve months:

Pharmaceutical Research is Pretty Amazing

I know we read a lot about the greedy, profit-driven motives of pharmaceutical companies, but you’ll have to admit, when put on the spot, it’s pretty amazing to consider what many of them have accomplished in the past year.  If you stop to consider that they’ve been confronted with a new viral strain, isolated it, synthesized an effective vaccine, and then mass-produced and distributed it to the far corners of the world – all within one year – that’s quite a mind-blowing achievement.  We tend to take these types of medical advances and breakthroughs for granted, but if these tireless researchers and lab technicians weren’t able to fast track an effective vaccine, the entire world would be in a much different place right now.

Mask Use Is Here To Stay

The use of face masks in the U.S. to prevent the spread of viral contagions (whether it be the common cold or another, more serious virus) will probably be commonplace from now on.  Much as it has been for Eastern Rim/Asian countries for years, the personal use of a face mask has been shown to be quite effective in the prevention and spreading of germs or other contaminants (you can argue the research if you like, but it’s a proven fact).  At some point, they won’t be required in public, but I’m sure folks will still wear them from now on (as a personal choice when necessary), so get used to seeing them.

The General Public is Easily Manipulated

With the advent of social media and an overall increase in all kinds of information sources (both factual and completely off-kilter), the average person is bombarded with information from multiple sources – and many of them are less than credible; however, people tend to listen to the last thing they swiped, read, or was told to them.  At the end of the day, they will also believe what they want to believe, no matter how much factual information may contradict that opinion.  To quote Tommy Lee Jones from the film ‘Men in Black’, “A person is smart.  People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it.”  The problem in this is that instead of one crazy person shouting on a street corner, that same person now has 25,000 followers on Instagram or Tik-Tok, and that influence can be dangerous.  Don’t believe me?  Talk to an anti-vaxxer, a “flat earther”, or someone who believes we never went to the moon.  Trust me, you won’t have to look very hard.

It’s Easy To Lose A Sense Of Scale

As of this past Thursday, there were 121,372,046 cases of coronavirus, worldwide.  29,608,410 of those were in the United States.  That’s a little over 9% of the total U.S. population.  Almost one out of every ten Americans has contracted the virus.  To date, we’ve lost over 538,000 lives to the pandemic in the past year.  538,000.  It’s hard to wrap your head around numbers that big.  To put it in perspective, there were 407,316 U.S. deaths in all of World War II.  2,977 deaths as a result of the 9/11 tragedy.  Seven astronauts perished in the Challenger disaster.  We have become numb and desensitized to the scale of the loss.  This one event is estimated to have shortened U.S life expectancy by an entire year (77.8 years vs. 78.8 years).  That’s astounding.

The impact of the COVID pandemic will be felt for years to come.  Let’s hope the lessons it teaches us are learned and remembered, as it is almost certain this won’t be the last time the planet is confronted with another deadly disease.