“For some, the lessons learned have as much to do with faith as public health.
Gabriel Quintas accepts the death of his favorite uncle, Joel Quintas, from Covid-19 complications at the age of 39 as the will of God and says that he harbors no anger or resentment. Joel, who worked in a bakery in Champaign, Ill., was not the only one in his family to contract the coronavirus, but he was the only one to die from it in the United States. Gabriel’s own parents and two of his brothers tested positive and so did both of Joel’s young sons, though they all made full recoveries.
“We don’t want to blame anybody,” Gabriel, 20, said. “It is something tragic that happened and we want to move on.”
Research has shown that the lessons people draw from their social networks can be more powerful than anything they read on the news or receive from a government or educational institution they may not trust. How Americans perceive the threat of the virus in the lives of their friends and acquaintances will likely influence their willingness to be vaccinated, researchers said.”