After six months of altered lives avoiding contagion
Making us tired of what feels like a long time
No one wants to hear the reasons why
Really we are at the very beginning
Many people have stopped taking precautions
Wanting to believe the great misleader
Pretending COVID is harmless or a hoax
There’s no reasoning with them about it
But a thoughtful look at the numbers says otherwise
With a population of 370 million in this country
And 7 million infected so far officially
That leaves almost everyone still at risk
And even if you triple the official count
Still 95 percent remain vulnerable
And even if only half of those eventually get it
The death rate so far will mean 2 million people die
It's possible a vaccine will protect us
That's the best case scenario we hope for
But realistically not available for regular people
Until at least 9 months from now
And all the anti-vaxxer refuseniks won't do it
And all the cautious people wary of the rush job
Who wait to see what harm may come of it
Means that the virus will keep spreading
And there's no vaccine in development for children
So they will be carriers as well no matter what
Passing it around the schools and community
Making the coronavirus endemic with no end in sight
In a global pandemic there are no boundaries
Where 33 million have been infected to date officially
And using the same tripling estimate for an actual count
That leaves 98 percent of 7.8 billion not yet infected
And if only half of those eventually catch it
The death rate so far will mean 25 million humans die
A grim projection that calls for a cooperative world effort
Doing what we can to reduce suffering and save lives
