The Biden Administration is coming to a startling realization in recent weeks, as the number of folks who aren’t vaccinated approaches the number of folks who won’t be vaccinated. As it stands today, about half to the nation is inoculated, with the other half largely unwilling to go down that road.  In order to reach herd immunity, experts suggest that as many as 70% of us will need to have COVID antibodies – a fact that has prompted a number of municipalities to work up programs to entice Americans to get the jab. In DC, they are now targeting children with these incentives. Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Thursday the city will offer cash and goodies to children from August 7 as gifts for those who receive their first shot of the coronavirus vaccine. Bowser previewed the August reward program saying, “All DC youth can claim their free COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] vaccine” at three locations in D.C., adding the “youth can receive a $51 VISA gift card.” Additional prizes will see, “The first 400 youth to get vaccinated at each site will have the option to forgo their gift card and instead receive a pair of AirPods.” And the parents are being targeted as well. She revealed other enticements, saying “parents/guardians will also get one $51 VISA gift card,” adding the gift cards are “per child vaccinated,” which could be lucrative for families with multiple children. The announcement comes on the heels of a similar bribe by NYC officials who offered $100 to anyone willing to get the jab.  

We are now in month 17 of our “2-week lockdown”.  You remember?  The one that was meant to “flatten the curve” two St. Patrick’s Days ago. So, nearly a year-and-a-half later, we are now dealing with something called the “delta” variant, and a return to the masks and restrictions that marred society during the early days of the pandemic. The CDC’s guidance on the matter changed abruptly this week, drawing a great deal of criticism from Americans the nation over.  Now, a leaked document appears to show why the organization changed their tune. The Delta variant is much more contagious, more likely to break through protections afforded by the vaccines and may cause more severe disease than all other known versions of the virus, according to an internal presentation circulated within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the agency, acknowledged on Tuesday that vaccinated people with so-called breakthrough infections of the Delta variant carry just as much virus in the nose and throat as unvaccinated people, and may spread it just as readily, if less often. And, when compared to other infamous outbreaks, “delta” holds its own. The Delta variant is moretransmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. The immediate next step for the agency is to “acknowledge the war has changed,” the document said. Its contents were first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday evening. The news comes just a children the nation over are preparing to head back to the classroom, and with cooler, drier weather just around the corner to drive some of us back indoors.