Humanity Gone Viral

I was introduced to Biology in highschool and loved it so much that it became my major in my undergraduate years of college. One of the topics that I found especially interesting was virology. I was fascinated by the fact that all viruses are non-living. They lack cellular components, can’t make their own energy, and need your cells to replicate and survive. They’re essentially invisible zombies. The only reason why we learn about them in biology is because they wreak havoc on living cells.

Fast forward to 2021 and my fascination with viruses has reached new heights because the COVID-19 virus is alive and well — figuratively that is. For about a year it has instilled fear, sadness, and anxiety in us all and been fueled by behaviors that forgo science, inject politics into a humanitarian crisis, and disregard human life altogether. These are certainly not the characteristics of viruses that I was taught in my classes. Apparently, the sociopolitical landscape of America has provided an adequate energy source for viral propagation that was never mentioned in any of my textbooks.

“A virus is not human, but it is a measure of humanity.”

-Timothy Snyder, Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary

Now that there are three vaccines available, overcoming this “undead” enemy in these harrowing times seems well within our reach. Certainly the innovations in medical science are impressive and will help to bring an end to the pandemic. However, medical and scientific advancement can only go so far. If we as a people want this pandemic to end, we need to be as dissimilar from our non-living adversary as we possibly can. What I mean is, as living, breathing, intellectually advanced, emotionally competent beings, we need to rediscover our humanity. The health of our race depends on it.

That goes for all health matters, not just those pertaining to the pandemic . Imagine if the U.S. healthcare system was built on a foundation of compassion, selflessness, empathy, honesty, and tolerance. Perhaps healthcare would be a right and millions of citizens would finally have access to the care that they desperately want and need. Health and humanity go hand in hand in my opinion. COVID-19 has emphasized the plethora of health competing factors in this country, but if we insist that our fellow (wo)man is a priority, there is no contest. COVID-19 won’t stand a chance if only we can get humanity to go viral.