I’m no expert, but I think I can tell an addict when I see one. By all the usual earmarks—erratic behavior, a different story every time you speak with them, and a trance-like fixation on the subject of their addiction—the corporate media is hooked on Covid-19.

Apparently, a double shot of the Covid-19 vaccine wasn’t enough to assuage their mania over a virus that is already an insignificant threat to most healthy people. When the Biden administration announced Wednesday it will roll out “booster shots” for the Covid vaccine in September, the media jumped to be the first in line for a fresh dose.

Don’t be confused. The original vaccine still works, says the New York Times. This supplementary injection is merely necessary to boost the good the first two shots are already doing. Of course, that’s just what an addict would say, isn’t it? The next fix is necessary. Vital. Non-negotiable.

The corporate media is a delicate creature. It gets a little cagey when you question it about its obsession—when you say things like, “I already have antibodies” or “why do I have to wear a mask if I’ve been vaccinated?” and “do I really need another shot?” It starts to sweat when it sees Covid-19 cases declining, is quick to insist this doesn’t mean the pandemic is over, and latches onto every viral variant the Greek alphabet has a letter for.

Experts have identified a phenomenon characteristic of an addict’s behavior: self-deception.

The American Addiction Centers writes:

Doublethink is a form of self-deception that involves the ability to believe and live contradictory beliefs. The term “doublethink” comes from George Orwell’s great novel, 1984. Simply put; doublethink is being able to tell deliberate lies while still believing them and forgetting any facts that are inconvenient. Doublethink isn’t just believing a contradiction (which never can be true) but having that contradiction drive actions and behavior. All of these tactics become necessary for living, according to Orwell.

How are these tactics necessary for living with an addiction? Firstly, they help to manufacture a reality in which one’s use is not disordered or addictive. Even if on some level a person believes she is becoming addicted, she can appeal to the always ready at hand belief that she is just fine.

We should pray for our brothers and sisters in their fight against this debilitating disease. They’ll be boosting the booster to their booster shot, with more stamps in their vaccine passports than their real ones, before they’ll accept the pandemic is done.