Navigating Covid Five Years After the Pandemic
We have been remiss. Remember back to the nightmare of 2020, into 2021. Schools were shuttered, people worked from home, we couldn’t visit people in hospitals, see our grandchildren, and our loved ones were in isolation in nursing homes, dying from illness and loneliness. Over one million Americans died, and that number is probably low. Many more were affected and have long-term effects: COVID brain fog, insomnia, heart issues, to name a few. And finally, we had a vaccine, and it helped. Tremendously, life came back. We were left with children who had never been in school with others, and there were other issues we didn’t even think about.
We hear COVID, and many of us think, “just a bad cold,” or “I don’t want to know because then I may have to isolate and miss ____” and “it’s no big deal.” And then we hear that the vaccinations are worse than the disease, and recently we learned that 25 children died from the vaccination. That is 25 children too many, but how many died of COVID, and how many were saved because of the vaccination?
We are right in the middle of prime vaccine time, and it is easy to get a vaccination, unlike when they first came out. However, the CDC has made it difficult to see who needs one. They are recommended for those 65 and over, or for those with chronic illnesses, i.e. heart disease, who are immunocompromised, asthmatics, and those who live with people so afflicted. Yet so many people aren’t going to take one, and in my opinion, this may be a big mistake.
I recently returned from a bus trip to Niagara Falls with a group from my development. Apparently, two people were sick at the outset, but it is up to the individual to self-police, and if they don’t test and say “it’s only a cold,” what do we trustworthy people do? Hide under a rock? The trip started on a Monday, and one man was sneezing, and his partner was wearing a mask for a few days. But it is not polite to ask, so we don’t. On Wednesday, one woman came down with a sore throat and a cold. By Friday, she had no voice. My husband and I were a little tired, and he had a fever of 100.8 on Friday night. We needed to know for sure, as we were due for our boosters Saturday morning. We had two COVID-19 tests left, and they were three years expired. Both of ours turned red almost immediately. COVID was confirmed.
What do we do? Run to the doctor? Why? I know I have it; my doctor told me to stay home and rest. The big question is what to do next since guidelines have changed periodically. We didn’t want Paxlovid; it could shorten the course of the virus by a few days, but it can give you a bad taste in your mouth, and you may get rebound. We followed the latest guidelines, isolating until no fever for 24 hours, and wearing a mask for 10 days from the start.
There is no doubt COVID is rearing its ugly head. A recent study in Maryland said that if you are in a room with 100 people, there is a 98% chance that one of them will have COVID.
I know, most people don’t want to go out and spend $20 on a test, and it is easier to bury your head in the sand. But be vigilant. Wear a mask if in a large crowd or at the market. Be smart about it. It is not just “a bad cold”. Getting COVID puts you at risk for serious complications. And if you do get it, be considerate. Stay home, wear a mask, tell people you have been with, and hopefully, things will not get as bad as some medical specialists fear.