“V” is for “Vaccination”
This blog is part of a very special series created and written by Phyllis Knox, “Alphabetic Musings”, whereby she chooses a word starting with a particular letter from the alphabet and injects it with her storytelling magic.
Just like every other Canadian in my age group, the surprise of the horrific medical events which occurred in late 2019 right through to today were and are a nightmare. I will never forget the moment when Christmas 2019 was for all intents and purposes, cancelled! I thought to myself, ‘This cannot be happening’. Surely by tomorrow the fear, the anxiety, the trepidation, and the dread will pass. Reality set in as every day brought more suffering and more problematic situations, situations which our medical system had not encountered in over a hundred years. Who would have thought that our society as a whole would almost crumble? Who could have imagined a day when all stores were closed, events cancelled, and schools shut? Remember the time when only necessities were available: food, medicine and ALCOHOL? No restaurants, no movie theatres, no gymnasiums or swimming pools (to name but a few) were open to give us the pleasures we so desire and need.
There were lists of rules to comply to even as you did the simplest of tasks. We were to follow the arrows put down on the floor of our grocery stores. If, by chance or whatever reason you were to deviate from the pattern, you could expect to be told off by the first person who noticed your transgressions. More than once, I stuttered my way through such encounters as I tried to explain my wrongdoings, EH!, only to be met with an expression of horror on the face of a self-appointed grocery aisle police officer. So embarrassing, yet so necessary, I guess. My being 70+ years of age gave me no sense that I was exempt from the hollering and the anger I was made to hear and feel. Soon, I learned my lesson and came to understand the dreadful situation more seriously. We all tried to comply to the rules for our own good and for the good of society.
I can remember leaving my house without a mask. PANIC! So, I would head to the nearest store, disinfect my hands with a product made available to all (the sign read something like...you MUST use this product or else) and then pick up a mask, which was laid out on the table to wear IMMEDIATELY. Then I would buy another package of blue life-saving masks. I still have a couple dozen of them in my medicine cabinet and I hope I never to have to use then again, ever.
There were lonely moments and hours on the phone with friends and family and on my iPad (mostly on the educational site called YouTube), cleaning my house (as never before), reading and even taking short walks during designated hours judged suitable by the government. Oh, and I slept a lot and drank an inordinate number of coffees per day, EH!
Even with all the careful attention and work that the government, the medical system, and the public gave to the pandemic, many thousands of our St. Maurice Valley citizens were hospitalized, died or became so-called ‘long-haulers’. Retirement homes and Assisted Living Seniors’ Residences were hit especially hard. I am sure that everyone has learned crucial lessons through the errors and misjudgments that occurred during this incredibly difficult time. We will do better IF there is another similar emergency milestone that hits us so hard. Of that, I am sure.
I used my trusted Google search engine to learn more about the words used to explain the who, what, where, when, and whys regarding the circumstances surrounding Covid-19 and the events that marked us in the Valley…in the world.
Vaccine: A preparation that is used to stimulate the body’s immune response against diseases...usually through needle injections, or by mouth or sprayed into the nose.
Vaccination: A simple, safe, and effective way of protecting you against harmful diseases before you come into contact with them. It uses the body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger.
Are vaccines safe? They certainly have saved millions of lives since their invention. Vaccines are studied in larger populations than are other drugs and multiple layers of safety surveillance continue as long as the vaccines are administered. People understand the downside of being vaccinated, specifically side effects, but the majority do choose to have their children and themselves vaccinated in order to prevent even worse events. Polio, Whooping Cough, Measles, and more have been vaccinated to the brink of extinction.
In finishing, I must ask myself, “Is COVID still around? Should I still wear a mask or disinfect my hands when in public? Is it over in Canada? If it is still in our midst, how long will the threat last? What can I do, personally, to make sure that the chances are on my side that COVID will never disrupt my life again? Is the virus, like Chickenpox, waiting just below the surface to show its ugly face once again later in life as Shingles? Will a pandemic throw the whole world upside down a hundred years from now... as we know it happened in 1919 and experienced it 2019.” Viruses don’t just multiply themselves; they multiply our thinking about them. Especially since COVID.
-Phyllis Knox
