It has been quite a while since my last communique to you*
It was a goodbye letter penned in December of last year
With the arrival of the vaccine, we were ready to wind up
Our best days were behind us, it was pretty clear
(* December 2020)

We could not have been more wrong in our thinking
We assumed, as the most advanced country, science wise
You will eagerly await your turn for the vaccine
What is actually happening, frankly, comes as a surprise

We didn’t think you will fall for quackery and misinformation
spread by a powerful group of antivaxxers and Fox News
Planting seeds of doubts among vaccine skeptics
resulting in vaccine hesitancy, defiance, and negative views

Just like you, we like “new and improved” versions of ourselves
All through 2021, we have been busy building our capability
Delta variant, the latest version, is more efficient & effective
First noticed in India, now global, testament to our transmissibility

We must acknowledge contributions of Red State governors
By defying sound public health measures, they abet our cause
These are the very States with the lowest vaccine penetration
Thanks to them, our campaign doesn’t have to take a pause

We can’t but mention African Americans as our benefactors
Experience tells them to be suspicious of government
Who can forget Tuskegee Airmen; used as guinea pigs
for syphilis; lied to and recruited without informed consent

If there is one organization that has always been on our side,
It has to be FOX news, where news is always “free and fair”
Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, et el are our media team
Their prime goal is to plant seeds of F.U.D.* and mortal scare
(* Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt)

We have to call out 12 people, aka “Disinformation Dozen”
They have done more than anyone else in the latest spread
The group includes anti-vaxxers, alternative health entrepreneurs,
and physicians with time-tested messaging and street cred
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/13/996570855/disinformation-dozen-test-facebooks-twitters-ability-to-curb-vaccine-hoaxes

We also need to thank the Russians for mounting an
extremely effective vaccine (dis)information campaign
Russians use social media exclusively as their mouthpiece
Their messages are effective, targeted and quite germane

Soon it will be fall and then winter, seasons of our liking
As you spend more time indoors, without masks off course
Our job will get easier; allowing us to infect more with less effort
We take our mission seriously, for which we have no remorse

Poor countries of the world are lagging in vaccination and the
majority of world’s population will remain unvaccinated through 2022
Our mantra is infect, mutate, infect more, mutate more, …
A Gamma variant will certainly make an appearance, thanks to You!

We have to go now.
We will get in touch with you again in the Fall of 2021.
Until then, ciao, sayonara, adios amigos.