Vaccines

 I am excited today because in two days I will be given my second vaccine against the virus known as Covid-19.  This virus began in China in 2019 and by January 2020, it had not only spread all over the world but was now in the North American Continent, specifically, the U.S.A  In the beginning those who developed the virus were those who lived in crowded cities located along the coasts, such as New York, New Jersey, Washington State and California.  It was aggressive, disorderly and surprising.  We in the United States were dependent on our federal government and leadership to protect us.  Instead, they chose to deny the virus existed.  Our then president and his administration announced it was a hoax and that it would disappear on its own in a few months.  Millions of people in the U.S. believed him, while the death toll soared!

Even though we were repeatedly advised to listen to the scientist and follow regulations to prevent the spread of the virus, our president of the U.S. continued to say otherwise.  It was an election year and he desperately wanted to maintain his presidency even though thousands were filling hospitals and morgues all across the United States.  We were told by the scientist that if we did not social distance, wear masks and close some businesses that by the Fall of that year, we could possibly see the death of over 350,000 people.

In my retirement community, I have been fortunate to have the leadership of those who worked desperately to mitigate the spread of the terrible disease.  We came together as a team and enforced the regulations that were necessary for our survival.  We were given masks, meals that were delivered twice a day and frequent calls to ascertain our level of functioning.  All this began in March 2020 and is continuing as I write in 2021.  To date there have been over 400,000 deaths in the U.S alone, not to mention the number worldwide.  This has been a terrible Pandemic of major proportions!  Those of us who have survived so far have been vigilant about using masks, controlling people in our environment and keeping safe distances when outside.  

We received news in September that several drug companies were close to having a vaccine available before 2020 ended or at least during the first month of 2021.  In November, elections were held and our former leadership lost.  In spite of many lies, forceful protesting and finally a mob riot on the capitol to force withdrawal of state electoral votes, a new president emerged!   Under this new leadership we now have hopes of eradicating the virus and restoring our democracy.  Unbelievably, our democracy almost fell off a steep cliff because over seventy million citizens of the U.S. believed the conspiracy lies that were proven over and over again to be false!

And so it is today, this 25th day of January 2021, that on Wednesday of this week I will be given my second dose of the vaccine.  After three weeks, I should have 94-95% immunity.  We have been advised by our new president and his administration to continue face masks, and safe distancing for 100 days.  It is everyone's hope and desire that at that time we will begin to see a reduction in the number of sicknesses and deaths due to the virus!  The best we can hope for at this stage is that maybe, just maybe, we will have a more normal Christmas in 2021!

More Later......................................................Brenda