Q: Do you feel the economy is going back to normal, even though the omicron variant is still around?
A:The government is trying to pretend that everything is normal, but it is not. As far as shopping, it seems most people are either comfortable with going to a store, or have become used to shopping online. Online retailers have seen a big increase in business.
However, many other sectors are still struggling. Restaurants have been especially hard hit, as they tend to pay very low wages. No one wants to risk their health for such a low wage, so they are having trouble finding new employees and remaining in business. Many have had to reduce their hours due to lack of staff.
One area that has been surprisingly hard hit is the veterinary industry. There is a nationwide shortage of vets at the moment. Many popular vets are older people, and thousands of them decided to retire during the pandemic! As a result, if you do not already have a relationship established with a vet clinic, it may be nearly impossible to find a doctor for your pet. At my vet’s office, they had 4 doctors, but 2 retired, leaving the entire patient load on the shoulders of just 2 doctors. If your pet is urgently ill, they cannot even see them, because their appointments are booked out about 3 months.
(和訳)
Q: まだオミクロンがあるけど、経済は元に戻ってきていると感じますか？
A:政府は全てが元に戻っているふりをしようとしているけど、実際はそうではないわ。買い物についていえば、ほとんどの人が気楽にお店に行くか、ネットショッピングになれてきたの。ネット小売店は繁盛しているわよ。
でも、他の多くの業種はまだ大変ね。賃金低下の傾向にあり、レストラン業界は大打撃を受けたわ。誰もそのような低賃金で自分の健康リスクをかけなくないから、お店は新しい従業員を見つけて、商売を続けるのに苦労しているの。多くのお店が人出不足のために営業時間の短縮を余儀なくされてきたわ。
意外なところで大打撃を受けたのが獣医業よ。今、全米で獣医が不足しているの。多くに人気の獣医が高齢化して、何千人の獣医がコロナの間に定年退職を決めてしまったの！その結果、かかりつけの動物病院があったら、ペットのために新しくお医者様を見つけることはほぼ不可能かもしれないわ。うちの動物病院はドクターが四人いたんだけど、二人が定年退職して、患者の診療負荷が全て残りの二人にのしかかってしまったのよ。もしペットが急に病気になっても、予約は３ヶ月先までいっぱいで、診てもらえないわ。
