Thread by @drlucymcbride

We’re starting to reach the acceptance phase of the pandemic: a time when we must recalibrate our individual risk gauges, which have been completely thrown out of whack

My latest for @TheAtlantic 👇

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

The two things that patients want—reassurance that they won’t get COVID-19 and permission to engage in life—I cannot deliver, and I never will be able to. SARS-CoV-2 is here to stay. /2

The virus will be woven into our everyday existence much like RSV, influenza, and other common coronaviruses are. The question isn’t *whether* we’ll be exposed to the novel coronavirus; it’s *when.* /3

The acceptance phase begins with a broader reckoning with risk. It ends, I hope, with clarity on what we actually can do as a society to protect life—and a commitment to do it. /4

Of course no one wants to get COVID. The Delta variant continues to take lives and cause lasting harm for many. But abstinence from living isn’t sustainable, nor is it healthy. /5

As we head toward endemicity, we can think about what we have to accept, what we can change, and how we tell the difference between the two. /6

....Acceptance can also be the birthplace of change. COVID’s permanence does not mean simply reverting to life as it was pre-pandemic. After all, the pandemic has laid bare our countless personal and public-health vulnerabilities—and offered opportunities to do better. /7

We can make people healthier and safer without surrendering to a permanent pandemic lifestyle. /8

Acceptance is not about agreeing with or surrendering to suffering. It is not about reckless abandonment of caution or carelessness toward others. /9

Public-health experts will be responsible for deciding where the off-ramps are for restrictions such as mask mandates in public places...But we, as individuals, are responsible for dusting off our pre-pandemic instincts and imagining living again. /10

Doctoring isn’t about walling off patients from certain exposures. It is about acknowledging our messy world and arming patients with tools to safely inhabit it. /11

Right now, caring for patients is about helping them redefine health as more than simply not getting COVID. Health also means accepting that living is about more than simply not dying. /12 - fin.