It’s Easter. The crocuses, daffodils and other spring-type flowers are out. Lambs are frolicking in fields, and it’s snowing!
We appear to be winning the fight with Covid 19, or at least bringing it better under control. I had my first vaccination yesterday. Since I left the ambulance service I’ve become even more adverse to people poking needles in me, but yesterday I felt no pain. I wasn’t even aware the vaccinator had done it. Afterwards I asked if they were a nurse. “Yes, how did you know?”. I recalled that the only people able to administrator injections painlessly (should they choose to do so) were nurses.
The day after: no adverse effects yet. A few minor aches and pains, most likely psychological though. Now I’m wondering if the second dose might floor me. I’ve heard stories of healthy people who were floored after one dose, others by the second one. For that reason I’d made no plans for the next two days. I wasn’t scared of a bad reaction. A bad reaction is actually good…in a medical sense. It means that your body is doing what it’s supposed to and that your immune system is relatively healthy. I just wasn’t looking forward to it.
Do I feel safer? No. Do I feel more comfortable in shops or out on the streets? No. It’s a start, but the false bravado it gives people is still concerning. It will help to cut down transmission and infection rates, but no Covid vaccine is 100% effective.
We’re back to the words and terms that no one used until March 2020 – “social distancing”, “face covering”, “hand washing”. All are still vital if we are to get on top of this and prevent further spikes. Spikes = lockdowns. Nobody wants another one.
A little bugbear: face coverings have been a legal requirement inside public buildings for a long time. Some people haven’t quite caught in and continue to walk about without or with them under their chins, noses etc. Some people think they’re for their own protection, oblivious to the fact they’re for the protection of those around them. It takes around 3 months to potty train a toddler, Covid-19 and mandatory face coverings have been around for a year.
So, have a snowy, safe Spring. There’s light at the end of the lockdown tunnel. Here’s hoping people are sensible as restrictions lift so we can enjoy Summer, hopefully without snow!
Life After the Blues (and twos) 