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Sanford Nowlin
CURRENT EVENTS
Here We Go Again
How bad is San Antonio’s latest wave of COVID infections? The choice is yours. BY SANFORD NOWLIN Editor’s note: The following is Current Events, a column of opinion and analysis.
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e were warned about this. For months, the nation’s public health experts told us exactly what would happen if enough of us didn’t roll up our sleeves and step up for our Fauci ouchies. And now here we are. The highly contagious delta variant has led to a new surge in San Antonio-area COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Alarmingly, that wave comes just before school restarts and children too young to be vaccinated head back to the classroom.
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Compounding the problem, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has banned local authorities from requiring masks in schools, imposing business limits or requiring public employees to get vaccinated. As the Republican governor looks to 2022 reelection and a possible 2024 presidential run, he has repeatedly appealed to his anti-vaccine base by saying shots are matter of personal choice. So, with local officials’ hands largely tied, San Antonians are on their own to mitigate this dangerous new chapter in the pandemic.
CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com
To be sure, many are stepping up. It’s encouraging that for the second straight week, new vaccinations are increasing in Bexar County. As of Friday, more than 1.3 million Bexar residents age 12 and over have now received at least one dose of vaccine. Local pop-up clinics administered roughly 6,700 jabs in July, up 76% from the 3,800 they gave in June. It’s also encouraging that some local businesses are taking creative steps to get their staffs inoculated. Jody Bailey Newman, owner of Southtown’s The Friendly Spot, for example, offered individual incentives to her employees to get their shots and promised a raffle once they hit a 100% vaccination rate. Her staff is now fully vaccinated, and her bar has staged two “beer and a shot” pop-up clinics, offering residents a free beer and a tequila shot in exchange for jab from a local medical provider. “I wonder if the average person who’s doubting the vaccine and debating the science is really thinking about the effect that their choice has on their
Mel Ramos gets vaccinated at The Friendly Spot’s ‘beer and a shot’ pop-up clinic.
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neighbors and friends,” Bailey Newman said.
Running the numbers But even with those efforts, just 63.9% of Bexar County’s total population is fully vaccinated. While there’s no scientific consensus about achieving herd immunity, public health experts point out that inoculations are key to making the coronavirus a manageable threat. Vaccinations are no guarantee a person won’t contract COVID-19, but they’re far less likely to end up hospitalized. It’s now time for those who haven’t yet received the vaccine to recognize that doing so is about more than the personal responsibility the governor has repeatedly trumpeted. It’s about responsibility to the larger community.
