It was a moment of schadenfreude for many as the news broke across Twitter. “AOC has COVID, pass it on!”

Yes, the congresswoman from New York announced on Twitter yesterday evening that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

pic.twitter.com/woutfVCppZ

— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) January 9, 2022

This, course, brought up the fact that just last week, AOC was seen vacationing and partying maskless in Florida, going against all her own advice on COVID. And when called out on that, the congresswoman had a… creative… response to her critics. Well, maybe not creative, just crazy.

It’s starting to get old ignoring the very obvious, strange, and deranged sexual frustrations that underpin the Republican fixation on me, women,& LGBT+ people in general.

These people clearly need therapy, won’t do it, and use politics as their outlet instead. It’s really weird

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 31, 2021

So, if we criticize AOC and point out that she’s doing everything that her home state of New York doesn’t allow, then we’re just sexually frustrated because we’re unable to date her. Oooooookay.

Later, AOC was videotaped partying at a drag brunch in Miami.

Do you see a mask on AOC? I don’t see a mask. Oh, yes, I forgot – she is special and everyone should be masking around her, not making her wear one. Also, we all want to date her. And now she has COVID. Yes, there was some much deserved snark on Twitter.

The virus just wants to date you.

— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) January 9, 2022

But after scrolling through the responses on Twitter, it struck me what I wasn’t seeing in the replies.

I wasn’t seeing any assumptions that AOC was going to die of COVID-19. There were no panicked replies regarding her survivability prospects, or worrying over a crippling long illness. There were lots of get-well wishes for a quick recovery, but no wailing over an imminent death by plague. And you know why? Because everyone has come to the same realization regarding AOC. She is young, healthy, vaccinated and boosted – she ISN’T going to die from COVID-19.

This is a good thing! And yet we’re not allowed to openly acknowledge it. Instead, we’re treated to grossly inflated numbers regarding COVID hospitalizations for children by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor – numbers so badly off base that the Washington Post – yes, the Washington Post! – awarded the justice four Pinocchios for her claims. We have school districts essentially going on strike because the teachers are scared of being back in the classroom. The moral panic is everywhere, as Darleen so expertly pointed out in her post yesterday.

And yet, the news that AOC, and Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker, and Ayanna Pressley, and Lloyd Austin have all been diagnosed with COVID-19 over the last few weeks, has received notice but no panic. Why no panic?

There’s no panic because reality is sinking in, and it still feels novel when said aloud. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has admitted that the vaccines cannot prevent transmission. Those who have been vaccinated can still get and spread the COVID-19 virus. Omicron continues to not be as deadly as Delta, and its emergence is being cited as a reason why the Biden vaccine mandates via OSHA are essentially useless. If all the “good” Democrats who did all the “right” things (except partying in Miami) are still getting COVID, then everyone should be making their own risk assessments and plan accordingly. The vaccines are not a deflector shield against ever contracting COVID.

The reality is that everyone, even the vaccinated, will eventually come down with COVID-19. I can say this with certainty, as my entire family just got over Omicron. For us, it was a bad cold – and I’ve had worse colds in the past. Did we enjoy it? Nope. Was I concerned that anyone in my house needed to be hospitalized? Nope. Was I certain that we would all recover? Yes. And I was grateful that it was “just” Omicron, and nothing worse. The hardest part about it, and what I have been telling everyone I know personally, was the “being sick” part. No one enjoys being sick, and one of the side effects of lockdowns and social distancing has been that we have not really been sick in almost two years. Consequently, people have forgotten HOW to be sick. It would be nice if we didn’t have relearn this, but unless we want to live socially distanced and in lockdown for the rest of our lives, we have to.

COVID-19 is endemic now. That is why people aren’t worried that AOC, a healthy young woman, might die from this virus – because they know that her demographic is not at risk. Neither are the children that the Chicago Teachers’ Union is so concerned about. We now instinctively accept and understand the parameters of COVID-19. We just need to admit it, and act on it, so we can move forward.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click