Just as I was contemplating leaving my job at the vaccine outreach clinic and planning my trip to Cambodia, the New York Times reported the devastating prognosis that another worldwide pandemic is likely—this time avian influenza H5N1.
A young girl has very recently died from it in Cambodia.
I’m not ready for another pandemic, and neither is the United States. We are so unwilling to be steadfast and diligent in our prevention strategies and self-protection that it is unlikely we can come through back-to-back crises unscathed.
So, now we have back to back earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, an unending war in Ukraine, and the potential for another pandemic. What else can keep me up at night and home in my bed? Oh yes, making the morning after pill illegal.
Don’t throw out those unused masks just yet!
Carole J. Garrison 