136. People I know

David died in a Boise hospital this week. He was 81—and unvaccinated. I didn’t know him well, but he’d grown up here and lived here for a time later in life. Frank died this week in Maine, after weeks in intensive care. I played football and baseball with his older brother in high school, and one college summer Frank and I played fast-pitch softball together. I have no idea about his vaccination status, just that Covid got him. 

 

Locally, three people I know have died of Covid. Not close friends, but people I know who worked at my kids’ school, the store next door, or Safeway, people I knew well enough to joke with on the street or in the post office. Of them, two were not vaccinated; one died before vaccinations became available. 

 

There are probably others. People who died of this or that “underlying condition,” but might have had the Covid as well. Sometimes people try to turn the tables: “it wasn’t Covid that killed her; she had a bad heart.” Or diabetes or asthma…

 

I’ve known others who have gotten sick and come out the other side. My grandson first, long before the vaccine. He is young and healthy, but still struggled with loss of taste and smell, and headaches. He says that that all changed after he did get vaccinated. 

 

Two friends from Umatilla County have been sick. Both were vaccinated, and both came through after a few days of sickness. I don’t know whether the Pendleton Roundup had anything to do with their illness, but the Oregon Health Authority reported the surge in cases after that event. The rodeo—the crowds, the lack of masks—certainly fanned Umatilla’s flames. The Umatilla Reservation has gone to near lockdown. 

 

Did it fan Covid our way? This week’s Wallowa County new Covid cases: Monday-20, including weekend numbers; Tuesday-2; Wednesday-22; Thursday-6; and Friday-11. That’s 61 cases in seven days. I don’t know how many were vaccinated, have no idea about the seriousness of their cases. I don’t know who they are—but I surely know some of them well enough to hail on the street. 

 

And I know that no close friends or relatives—other than the grandson who came home from Portland with it early in this Covid saga—and no one I work with has become ill with Covid. I also know that this group of friends, relatives, and co-workers wears masks and embraces vaccinations.

 

This is all anecdotal to be sure. Anecdotes add up. 

 

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