Doctor Doom

 "I'm going to reflect on the reoccurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much reason for hope, but right now I'm scared".

--Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control.

 While I understand that Dr. Walensky wants to avoid unwarranted optimism, I'm not sure phrases such as "impending doom" serve any useful purpose in the current situation. No one, not even Dr. Anthony Fauci was using terms that dire even at the height of the pandemic, before we had even the hope of vaccinating anyone, last summer. Beyond being emotionally depressing, I fear such pessimism only strengthens the more virulent anti-mask, anti-vaccine, politically motivated segment of the population.

"Why should I bother with any of this?" they will ask. "The President says we will all be vaccinated by the summer, but his top medical expert says we are 'doomed,' anyway. Why should I inconvenience myself if it's not going to do any good in the long run?"

Not that these people really need an excuse for their behavior, but why give them one? A little cautious optimism is the preferred mood to display, I think. "We still have problems, and normalcy is still weeks away, but the nation and the world are in a better place now than they were just three months ago. Stay the course, don't panic, we're on the right track." That is the appropriate message.