The fear of COVID-19, which once reshaped the way Hawaii residents regarded seasonal gatherings, seems now a thing of the past. But the potential for that or another virus to morph into a threat has not faded away — and that plain fact should set off alarm bells, here and across the country.
As the holidays approached, only 10.8% of Hawaii’s residents had received the updated COVID vaccine. This may not surprise anyone, given that all the standard measures tracked throughout the pandemic — positivity rates, viral concentrations in wastewater, emergency-room stops and hospitalizations — are all low.
But it’s worrisome, primarily because of what it signals about popular attitudes on public health: indifference, or in extreme cases, outright hostility. Right when it’s needed urgently, the public faith in the advocacy of public health experts has slipped.
On the national level, public health experts, such as former infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci, have borne the brunt of criticism over various conflicts that erupted throughout the pandemic crisis years. Some of that resentment was witnessed last June, when Fauci was grilled by a congressional panel.
On top of that, the naysayers about vaccines have found a sympathetic ally in Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the current and controversial nominee to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Even polio vaccines have taken hits from RFK.
How much all of this has shaped the outlook in Hawaii, which generally has shown less resistance to pandemic guidance than most other states, is unclear. But the dismal uptake of the latest vaccine is concerning, especially because it coincides with a rise in the current form of avian flu.
That virus has not yet shown the capacity for human-to-human transmission — fortunately — but these are early days in what could set off the next pandemic. It is not time for panic, not now, perhaps not soon. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still assesses the immediate risk to the public from the H5N1 avian flu virus as low.
But the health agency also uses what’s called an Influenza Risk Assessment Tool. The score from the latest test in June of a human case in Texas puts the currently circulating virus “in the category of ‘moderate risk’ for potential future emergence and public health impact,” according to a CDC website about the tool.
The science is complex, but the COVID experience has demonstrated to all that viruses produce variants because they replicate in a human host and change. Those mutations can make them more infectious, even making the jump to human-to-human spread.
The world at this time seems to be far away from that, but it’s critical now to take commonsense precautions, preventing the spread among birds and animals, and keeping away from infection hot spots.
Further, research has long shown that viruses interact with each other, influencing each other’s immune response and other factors.
Bottom line: Carelessly tossing potential disease-producing ingredients into this pathogenic soup is reckless. People need to take sensible precautions, observing the good-hygiene standards they should have learned from the COVID-19 experience.
Getting a proven vaccine — for seasonal flu as well as COVID — is another rational choice to make, despite RFK’s counsel to the contrary.
Beyond that, it’s simply logical to be aware of the health environment in which we all live. Just as meteorologists warn about distant weather threats, public health experts have knowledge to share that can ward off a bad outcome in the future.
Giving weight to their counsel would be wise, particularly in this holiday season as we seek to enjoy each other’s company.
