Think back to the long-ago days of March 2020, when Florida was feeling the first effects of the COVID pandemic. There was so much we didn’t know, and so much we would later vehemently disagree on, but at that moment, there was no dissent from one basic point: We must protect our older residents.
We tried. We shielded them from exposure to the coronavirus, and we put them first in line to receive the vaccine. We wore makeshift masks, social-distanced and learned hard lessons in how to treat patients. Even those who wrongly believed we should let the coronavirus run wild in those early days to build up some kind of herd immunity understood that we still must protect our most vulnerable. Indeed, Americans — and Floridians — over 65 died in disproportionate numbers.
During the pandemic, when Florida’s death rates looked worse than other states by any number of measures, the common refrain was: Yes, but Florida has a lot of older people. Exactly. Which is why we need to keep caring.
