Thread by @broadwaybabyto

A right leaning friend told me that given all the lies told at beginning of Covid pandemic he didn’t feel anyone would reconsider mitigations unless “bodies start piling up”. I explained that it’s not death toll in acute phase that is the biggest concern - it’s disability. 🧵 /1

This person genuinely didn’t understand that a virus could be a significant threat to the population in the absence of “bodies piling up”. I tried to educate on sudden deaths after recovering from Covid - that was met with “no way to prove it was Covid.” /2

I tried to discuss rising disability rates and the odds of Long Covid and that was met with “I don’t know anyone with that - clearly it’s not an issue.”

Herein lies the problem. For many people unless someone they know is directly impacted they can’t see there’s a threat /3

I explained that many people don’t realize they have Long Covid and/or are hiding their symptoms. They don’t connect the dots. If your social circle is relatively small that may mean it’ll take longer before you know someone impacted. /4

It was met with “I’ve heard Long Covid is only a risk for people who are already sick and vulnerable. So I’m not worried.” I explained that the vulnerable deserve protection too - but that made no difference. /5

Government & media have done an excellent job convincing people not to care about the vulnerable. That we are nuisances to be discarded because we are getting in the way of people “getting back to normal.” /6

Between people’s lack of compassion for those who are disabled and the insidious false belief that only the “already vulnerable” are at risk of Long Covid - how do we get people to care? /7

I even tried explaining that many people quietly exit society when they become disabled. It’s not like it makes the news or there’s a running tally of all the people maimed by Covid. They just disappear. And people are only to happy to LET them disappear. /8

Needless to say the conversation went for about an hour and got absolutely nowhere. It was made abundantly clear to me that unless there was obvious carnage - people would continue to believe Covid was no longer a threat. /9

Once again I was left with more questions than answers … because there really is no easy way to showcase the long term effects of Covid (especially only 4 years in). People like this friend won’t read studies & won’t pay attention unless it happens to them. /10

The one glimmer of hope was that they said IF it became apparent that it was causing significant disability - especially in healthy people - they would want to know. Of course this made me want to scream since I consider it to already BE apparent. /11

But perhaps this shows there IS an opportunity. Some people will be swayed if they believe there’s a direct threat to themselves. Convincing them to protect others remains a bigger challenge - but if we get them to care about themselves others are protected by default. /12

So keep telling your stories. Keep calling politicians, proudly wearing respirators & putting up billboards. Keep speaking out. Don’t allow yourself to be quietly disappeared. The more of us telling stories the louder our collective voice becomes. /end