Why I'm still in pandemic mode
It’s been four weeks since I received my second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but very little has changed for me.
I’ve gotten used to having my guard up. There are too many questions, too many conflicting messages and still too much careless behavior out there.
Not only are some people still refusing to wear masks or insist on wearing them improperly, those pesky COVID-19 variants are lurking out there too.
Though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said it’s OK for people who have been vaccinated to gather in groups with other vaccinated people without wearing masks, I’m not ready. I winced when my doctor said we could take off our masks when I return to her office for a follow-up visit next month.
Even as more people are being vaccinated, new COVID-19 cases are spiking, though some 158 million people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine,.
Turns out the CDC doesn’t actually know whether vaccinated people can spread the virus. All they know for sure is that the vaccines significantly reduce the chances of contracting the virus and transmitting it to others. And while Pfizer announced last week that its vaccine offers protection for at least six months, no one is sure whether we will still be covered beyond that.
These mixed messages aren’t doing anything to instill confidence in those who have been wary of the vaccine from the start. And it doesn’t make those of us who scrambled to get the vaccine as soon as possible feel comfortable enough to start living again.
Dahleen Glanton is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
