We have survived the winter. Here in Denver, it snowed off and on in February and got bitterly cold. In early March, the sun finally emerged. The temperatures warmed up and the spring flowers decided to come up.
We survived not just the weather, but also the COVID-19 surge that started in late autumn 2021. The number of patients in the hospital with COVID has finally receded in the last two weeks. This has been the work of the Omicron variant, which is apparently so infectious that virtually everyone who was vulnerable has gotten it. By and large, the ones who died were the unvaccinated or those who had an underlying immunodeficiency such as cancer — a group that remains vulnerable despite full vaccination.
The rest of us vaccinated folk mostly got off scot-free or had mild-to-moderate symptoms. A bad cold, a deep cough, maybe loss of smell. But at least fewer deaths than before the vaccines.
So now we are told that 90% of the population in Colorado should have some immunity to COVID, either through having gotten personally sick with the virus or courtesy of the vaccines. We are told to enjoy this lull in cases. Another variant is possible — and another period of social distancing and masking. But we should be good for the spring and some distance into the summer.
So where does this potentially temporary release from home confinement lead us? I suspect to a binge of travel, for those who can afford it.
Some of us have already flown the coop. My family and I risked trips to the tropics before the announcement of the all-clear. My youngest daughter and I spent a week in Mexico in late January, at a beach resort. We toured the Mayan ruins in Tulum. We watched a sunset over the ocean. We spent foolishly at souvenir shops – summer dresses, silver jewelry and colorful pottery. My oldest daughter and her husband spent four days in Cabo San Lucas in mid-February. They reported that the water is warmer on the bay side of the peninsula, but still nippy on the Pacific side.
While traveling in Mexico, I couldn’t help but notice pharmacies in Cancun are everywhere — and that they sell all sorts of medicines without any need for a prescription.
Passersby can go into the pharmacy and confide to the pharmacist symptoms of a skin rash — and voila, the pharmacist gives a prescription for Keflex. Patients can self-diagnose all they want and go in and request a particular antibiotic or pain medicine or any number of other pharmaceuticals.
As a retired doctor, I’m not sure this is a good thing. I worry it would lead to the overuse of antibiotics, for one thing, and to increased drug resistance. Easy access to pain medication also seems dangerous. Although perhaps the cost of Lortab is adjusted to the tourist trade. Perhaps opioiods are too expensive for locals to indulge in as a recreational drug.
By the way, the risks of traveling to Mexico were attenuated by the fact that all the cafes and restaurants are mostly outdoors. Most activities are outdoors: walking along the beach, watching street performers, going to outdoor markets. And everyone in Mexico, during our late January trip, was wearing a mask.
With travel and the loosening of COVID restrictions, this is a heady time. God willing, we will be given the time to get used to this degree of openness before another surge.
Right now, I’m trying to focus on what I can control. I’m buying pansies for the backyard planters. That seems like a reasonable short-term plan as an acknowledgement of early March and the beginning of spring. And maybe planning another trip – this time, to San Francisco.
Dr. Janet Tamaren 