It's been 5 years.

Five years ago (yesterday), the reality of COVID-19 hit the world like a plague of locusts. It was on that day that WHO declared a world-wide panic. It was the first day of me working from home 100%, and that has barely changed since then.

It was the beginning of a real-life horror show. That initial version of COVID-19 was - as one doctor described it - a "lung eater". Panic-buying and supply-chain problems became the norm, as delivery options became popular. Hospitals became hellholes as patients died, unable to have family next to them. Patients were stacked in the halls, and doctors nurses lived in protective gear for all of their working hours.

New York City was particularly hard hit, as one might imagine with so many people living in close proximity to one another. Who can forget the refrigerated trucks being used as makeshift morgues, and the mass burial sites on Hart Island?

Then came the inevitable pollicization of the disease. Naturally Marmalade Mussolini tried to downplay it, and would consistently tout "alternative" cures, much to the chagrin of Anthony Fauci (who did not hide his exasperation well). Bleach, UV light, and horse de-wormer were all embraced by his cult followers, and naturally there were conspiracy theories to make matters worse.

It didn't get any better once the mRNA vaccine was released. There were the insane theories like Bill Gates had put RFID chips in the vaccine that could be monitored via 5G. There were the "mud blood" proponents who would take every outlier case and anecdote, and declare it the norm. Anti-vaxxers went into overdrive.

Now here it is 5 years later. The Orange Menace is once again in the Oval Office. None of the conspiracy theories have disappeared. Measles is making a comeback as a result of vaccine hesitancy, and we have a vaccine-denier with no medical schooling or training as the Surgeon General.

And - bird flu is rising again.

The world has moved on and we're still stuck in Groundhog Day moment. Time to get a measles vaccine booster.