by Midnight Freemason Contributor
WB Darin A. Lahners
As I write this, the Delta
variant of Covid-19 is sweeping the nation. While there is no evidence that the Delta variant makes people more severely
sick, it is around twice as contagious as the original SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) virus. According to research from Johns Hopkins University, the average number
of daily COVID cases in the U.S. has gone up 66% in just the last week and is
up 145% from two weeks ago. The variant is twice as contagious as the
original virus, and one study suggested that the amount of virus in
unvaccinated people infected with Delta might be a thousand times higher than
seen in people infected with the original version of the virus. In
the past few days, the Center for Disease Control has advised that vaccinated
individuals begin masking in public spaces again, because they are able to carry
tremendous amounts of Delta variant in their nose and throat. The deadly pandemic has continued because there
is a large percentage of people who have refused to wear masks in public while
unvaccinated and/or get vaccinated against Covid-19. About 97 percent of people hospitalized with
Covid-19 are unvaccinated.
This is not a political post,
although it most likely may be labeled as one by some. Even though Freemasonry
is not supposed to take any position regarding politics, we have seen brethren
divided politically more today than at any other time in history apart from the
Civil War era, and unfortunately, Covid-19 has been made into a political issue
due in part because of this divide. This is unfortunate because this
isn’t a political issue. It is at heart a principle that I hold dearer. That principle is Civic responsibility. Civic
responsibility means active participation in the public life of a community in
an informed, committed, and constructive manner, with a focus on the common
good. I made the choice to become fully
vaccinated to protect myself from Covid-19 and protect myself from allowing me
to potentially spread it to others. When I was unvaccinated, I wore a mask in
public places where social distancing was impossible because of this principle.
I am wearing a mask again in public indoor places based upon the latest CDC
guidelines to help prevent the spread of the Delta variant of Covid -19. This is my personal decision.
While it is unknown what
percentage of the population would need to be vaccinated for herd immunity,
what we do know is that is most likely the high 80 or low 90 percent of the
population of the United States and that we are nowhere close to that
happening. For
example, measles is a highly contagious illness. It's estimated that 94% of
the population must be immune to interrupt the chain of transmission. As of today, 49.4% of the population of the
United States is vaccinated against Covid-19. As of writing this, there have been 609,441 deaths in the United
States due to Covid-19. 95% of the deaths due to Covid-19 are in
patients that are older than 50 years old. We know that the majority of our membership
falls into this demographic category.
The good news is that the
vaccination rates increase as we get into this demographic group. 57.5% of the total United States population
aged 40-49 are fully vaccinated, 67.0% of the United States population aged
50-64 years are fully vaccinated, 81.6% of the United States population aged
64-74 years are fully vaccinated, and 77.6% of the United States population
aged 75+ are vaccinated. The bad news is that rates are under 50% for
the population aged 18-39. We
know that the vaccines are not 100% effective.
There are going to be cases of breakthrough infection. A
breakthrough infection occurs when someone who has been fully vaccinated tests
positive for Covid-19. The good news is that breakthrough infections are rare,
and the vast majority of the cases are mild. More than 161 million people in
the U.S. have been fully vaccinated, and fewer than 6,000 fully vaccinated
people have been hospitalized or died from breakthrough infections. The CDC has stopped
collecting data on asymptomatic breakthrough infections, meaning people who
have tested positive but don’t have any symptoms. “The fact that people are
getting breakthroughs with the Delta variant and not having symptoms is
something to celebrate,” says Dr. Amesh Adalja of Johns Hopkins University
Center for Health Security. “That means our vaccines are robust against the
Delta variant.” People who do get more severe breakthrough infections are
likely to be elderly or immunocompromised. Of the people who had severe
breakthrough infections, 75% were over the age of 65. It is still extremely
rare to get severe Covid-19 after being vaccinated, especially if you are young
and healthy.
The
current COVID surge fueled by the Delta variant will likely continue throughout
the summer and fall, peaking in mid-October.
At the peak, there will be around 60,000 new cases and 850 deaths each
day, Justin Lessler, an epidemiologist from the University of North Carolina
who helps run the data hub, told NPR. “By the time you get to October, these
resurgent epidemics have burned through a lot of the people who are
susceptible.” Lessler explained. He
added that, at that point, “herd immunity starts kicking in a little more
aggressively and we start to see things going down again.” By Jan. 2022, the data bub projects that the
number of deaths will come back down around the current level of about 300 each
day.”
The
longer the pandemic continues, the greater the chance that the virus
continues to mutate. If you let the
virus replicate itself 900,000 times, odds are that the advantageous mutation
will occur. But if you limit the overall replication of the virus to 1000
times, then it’s much less likely that the random advantageous mutation is
going to occur. And that’s where public health interventions really help us a
lot during this pandemic – by reducing the total amount of virus replication
and therefore reducing the chances that the virus can improve or adapt.
I believe that the three great tenets
of our Fraternity are simple rules to follow to help one live as an upright
Mason.
In the First Degree, Freemasons are taught that the first great tenet of
our Fraternity is Brotherly Love. The tenet teaches us “to regard the whole human species as
one family; the high and the low, the rich and the poor, who, as created by one
Almighty Parent and inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support and
protect each other. On this principle, masonry unites men of every country,
sect and opinion, and conciliates true friendship among those who might
otherwise have remained at perpetual distance.”
The
second tenet taught in the First Degree, Relief, teaches us: “To relieve the
distressed is a duty incumbent upon all men; but particularly on Masons, who
profess to be linked together by an indissoluble chain of sincere
affection. To soothe the unhappy, to
sympathize with their misfortunes, to compassionate with their miseries, and to
restore peace to their troubled minds, is the grand aim we have in view.”
The
final tenet taught in the First Degree, Truth, tells us that: “Truth is a
divine attribute and the foundation of every virtue. To be good and true is the first lesson we
are taught in Masonry. On this theme we
contemplate, and by its dictates endeavor to regulate our conduct. Hence, while influenced by this principle,
hypocrisy and deceit are unknown among us, sincerity and plain dealing
distinguish us, and the heart and the tongue join in promoting each other’s
welfare and rejoicing in each other’s prosperity.”
In the First
Degree Charge, when we are told: “As a citizen, you are enjoined to be
exemplary in the discharge of your civic duties, by never proposing or
countenancing any act which may have a tendency to subvert the peace and good
order of society; by paying due obedience to the laws under whose protection
you live, and by never losing sight of the allegiance due to your country.” The importance of the Tenets and Virtues
are emphasized directly after the above, as the Charge states: “As an
individual, you are charged to practice the domestic and public virtues. Let temperance chasten, fortitude support,
prudence direct you, and justice be the guide to all your actions. Be especially careful to maintain, in their
fullest splendor, those true Masonic ornaments – brotherly love, relief and
truth.”
In our Third Degree
obligation, we promise that each of us individually: "Will not cheat,
wrong, nor defraud a Master Mason's Lodge, nor a brother of this Degree,
knowingly, nor supplant him in any of his laudable undertakings, but give him
due and timely notice, that he may ward off all danger."
There is most likely a percentage of our membership that has not been vaccinated. There are also those of you that are vaccinated who are not wearing a mask indoors after the new CDC guidance to do so. I’m writing this article to try to appeal to you. This is my attempt to whisper good counsel to you to consider vaccination if unvaccinated. It is my attempt to whisper good counsel to you to consider wearing a mask while around others in public spaces regardless of your vaccination status. I'm asking you to remember the above lessons and to contemplate them as they apply to Covid-19.
My hope is that by appealing to you as a
Brother, you will let Brotherly Love fill your heart and you will decide to change your mind. My hope is that you will see such a decision as a way to give relief to others. My hope is that you will let Truth guide your decision to promote each other's welfare. My hope is that you will see this decision as one of civic duty. As a favor, from one brother to another, I would ask you to contemplate my last point. The danger that Covid poses is unseen. Are you able to give a brother due and timely notice to ward it off if you are potentially transmitting it to him? Please remember the obligations that you promised and swore to. My hope is that if I
can change one mind, and in doing so potentially save you, another brother, or another person from
catching this virus and/or dying from it, then I believe the article has done what it was designed
to do. May Brotherly Love prevail and every moral and social virtue cement us.
~DAL
