Europe’s Grannies, Jeds, Jethros and Ellie Maes are fixed on ruining the Holidays for everyone.

(Originally publichsed Nov. 18 in “What in the World“) Germany has stepped up its anti-Covid restrictions, canceling Munich’s annual Christmas market and adding restaurants to public transport to the list of places people can’t go without proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid-19. This has prompted The New York Times to elaborate on the Financial Times’ earlier coverage of the surprising paradox of Teutonic hillbillies. As the Times notes, these Alpine bumpkins prefer to place their trust in “fresh air, organic produce and herbal teas more than traditional drugs.”

Thanks to such stubborn pockets of stupidity, fatalistic nonchalance, and youthful innocence (children in Europe still aren’t eligible for vacccines), Covid’s latest surge seems to be spreading with the winter cold fronts, from Eastern Europe to the Alps and now south. And in the U.S., the surge is hitting the Midwest and New England first.

With a winter surge seemingly inevitable, the U.S. government planning to spend billions beefing up vaccine manufacturing capacity—closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. It’s also stocking up on new treatments. Combined with vaccinations, these new treatments—for use on those who have already been infected—should help bring Covid’s mortality rate back down. As it is, the ability of Covid to kill has been only slightly mitigated by the arrival of vaccines last December and remains just above 2%, about 1,000 times higher than the annual toll taken by influenza.

Those who believe we can “live with the virus” by getting regular vaccines are misled. Roughly 60% of the planet remains unvaccinated, and the World Health Organization has once again reminded us that the poor and poor nations still cannot afford timely access to vaccines despite pledges by leaders of the G20 to do something about it. As long as they continue to provide the virus a reservoir, new strains are likely to emerge that evade our vaccines.