COVID 19 VACCINES
Finally, A Shared Experience of Hope
Up until now, we on the front lines have only had experiences of pain and despair
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Today, I joined the ranks of the millions of healthcare professionals who have gotten or will get vaccinated against COVID-19. It is such a happy occasion, despite the fact that — full disclosure — I am a bit nervous about getting a possible reaction to the vaccine (I am nervous about this with every vaccine I get).
Finally, it is the beginning of the end of this nightmare. Finally, it is the dawn of a new day, even though the darkness of the night will still be deepest just before that dawn. Finally, we on the front lines will have a shared experience of hope. Up until this point in time, the only shared experience we have had has been of pain and despair.
All across our country, those who are getting vaccinated are full of joy and happiness. The same is true with my colleagues here in my hospital. They wear the “I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine” sticker with pride.
This pandemic has been absolutely horrific. There has been so much pain, so much death, so much destruction on a scale that we have never seen. So many patients have died. So many of those patients have suffered up until their death. Their families — robbed of the opportunity to be at their loved ones’ side — have been devastated by the suffocating grief of loss. Just yesterday, I had to comfort a colleague’s sister, who just lost her husband from Covid-19. It has been truly awful.
Now, we have the vaccine, and finally, we all are having hope: hope for the end of this nightmare and hope that the death and destruction of Covid-19 will finally come to an end. And we are all sharing in that hope by getting vaccinated and encouraging others to do the same. That’s why I posted my getting the vaccine on YouTube.
There is still so much we need to do. It is going to take time to vaccinate our population and even more time to vaccinate the world population. It is going to take months to achieve herd immunity with the vaccine. There are still new cases of Covid coming into our hospitals. Even as people are getting vaccinated, people are still getting sick with Covid. People are still dying.
And so — as long as there is no contraindication — we need to get the vaccine when it becomes available to us. We need to continue to wear masks, watch our distance, and wash our hands. We need to continue to avoid large indoor gatherings, especially if we are unmasked, and if we have to be indoors, we need to mask up, even if we are among family.
Hope has come. The beginning of the end of this pandemic is nigh. Finally, we who have seen so much despair can share an experience of hope. Finally.
