I’m Done With the Pandemic

Summary

The author expresses frustration with the ongoing pandemic, detailing personal experiences with COVID-19, the impact of public health guidelines, and the importance of vaccination, while also acknowledging the unpredictability of the virus's spread and effects.

Abstract

The author, a fully vaccinated and boosted individual living with family members who recently tested positive for COVID-19, conveys a sense of exasperation with the pandemic. Despite adhering to CDC guidelines and mitigation strategies, the unpredictable nature of the virus's impact on individuals has led to a feeling of futility in planning life around COVID-19. The author highlights the challenges of avoiding infection, especially given their professional exposure to potentially infected children. While the author remains diligent in following health protocols, they also express a desire to move beyond the pandemic's constraints. The piece underscores the effectiveness of vaccines in reducing the risk of severe illness and death, citing statistics from the State of Connecticut's COVID-19 Update. Ultimately, the author has decided not to let the pandemic dictate their life decisions, while still recognizing the importance of contributing to the collective effort against the virus.

Opinions

The author is fatigued by the pandemic and the constant need to adjust life around its unpredictability.
There is a sense of absurdity in the author's diligence, such as wearing a mask at home, to prevent infection from family members.
The author places trust in the scientific community and CDC guidelines over anecdotal advice from non-experts.
The author acknowledges the cruelty of the virus due to its varied effects on individuals, which cannot be fully predicted by statistics.
The author would find it challenging to teach remotely if infected with COVID-19, indicating the difficulty of their job under these conditions.
The author believes that only extreme and unlikely scenarios, such as a global lockdown or universal vaccination, could end the pandemic or significantly reduce infections.
Getting vaccinated is seen as a straightforward decision, described as a "no-brainer."
The author is critical of the higher risks faced by unvaccinated individuals, as supported by data from Connecticut's health department.
Despite the pandemic's uncertainty, the author has chosen to live life with a sense of normalcy while still doing their part to combat the virus.

At least for now, and I hope forever

I’m done with this stupid pandemic. My two adult sons, Diego and Andres, both of whom live at home, were in isolation until yesterday, as dictated by current CDC guidelines for the fully vaccinated (and boosted in their case).

Andres woke up with a stuffy nose a week ago and tested positive. So the rest of us (my husband Cesar, Diego and I) all got tested. Diego came out positive. Not so Cesar and me. Anyway, just a runny nose and congestion for Andres and no symptoms for Diego.

This virus is cruel, as many are, except COVID-19 is the one causing a pandemic right now. You can never tell who will get it and how much it will affect any given individual. Statisticians and epidemiologists will give you probabilities and totals, which are great for public health policies, but not as helpful at the individual level.

What’s a person to do at this point? Plan one’s life around COVID? I’m done with that.

Who knows how many times I’ve been in close contact with infected individuals, seeing as every day I spend hours with 4-year-olds whose masks are wet with saliva or down to their chin? Any one of them might have had COVID at any given time but shown no symptoms. All this makes me feel silly about wearing a mask at home so I don’t catch it from my sons.

Ridiculous as I may feel, I have masked up around them though — mostly. I always end up doing (again, mostly) what the scientists over at the CDC ask of us in terms of mitigation strategies and getting immunized. I figure they’re more likely to be right than my friend who sells insurance, and my vaccinated/ boosted cousin who insisted on getting tested every day for six days straight because her boyfriend tested positive.

Also, in truth, I would hate to get COVID. It would mean having to teach my 4-year-old students with special needs remotely, which is like remotely teaching a person who’s afraid of flying how to land an airplane.

I make no predictions about this pandemic. What I will say, however, is that only impossible scenarios would bring it to an end or cause infections to drop precipitously— for instance, if every one of us 7.8 billion Earthlings went into lockdown (simultaneously) for about two weeks, or if a very high percentage of the world’s population were promptly and fully vaccinated.

Oh, one more thing I venture to say with conviction: Getting vaccinated is a no-brainer

Here’s what the State of Connecticut, where I reside, had to say in its COVID-19 Update, dated January 6, 2022:

“Compared to being vaccinated, being unvaccinated currently has the following relative risk: • 3 Times higher risk of being infected with COVID-19 • 17 Times higher risk of dying from COVID-19 • 11 Times higher risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19”

Anyhow, no one knows where things will go. Maybe more serious variants will come along, or maybe weaker ones. In the meantime, while I do my part as a member of the human community, I’m not planning my life around COVID.