I received my first shot of the COVID vaccine last week, provided by the VA. It was the Pfizer vaccine and I already have an appointment in another three weeks to get my second dose. So far, I have not had any side effects with this first shot, not even a sore arm. I am fortunate to have received the vaccine this early, and that was totally due to being a veteran. Rose is still waiting for her opportunity, and hopefully, it will be soon as more vaccine is rolled out.
The first vaccinations were given at the end of December and prioritized by each state. Medical personnel were the first to receive the vaccine, followed by first responders and the aged and those with pre-existing conditions or immune-compromised. It’s not going to get to the general population until May, which is sooner than everyone thought just a month or two ago.
While I am on the road to full vaccination against this deadly illness, there are still thousands in our country succumbing to the disease every day. Not too long ago there were over 2,000-3,000 deaths per day on average. Currently, there are over 527,000 dead in the United States from this pandemic. To get a sense of how fast the deaths have increased, when I wrote my first post on March 31st there were much less than 100,000 deaths. In September, only six months later the death count was over 200,000. And now, in March 2021 another six months later that death total is over 520,000.
It was about one year ago (March 18th) when our office and the entire government told everyone to work from home. And that is where I and my peers have been working for the past year. I have been going into the office about one day a week to plug in the computer and let it get updates, etc. Instead of a normal office that would have 40-50 people, I am lucky to see 5-6 when I go in.
I’m not complaining though, because I am fortunate that much of my job can be done remotely and I have retained a paying job during this terrible time. There are so many that have lost their jobs during this time. So many have also been affected due to deaths of family members or loved ones, which luckily I have not experienced.
My brother, who is a high school science teacher in northern Virginia has received both of his vaccine shots. They started teaching to a minimal number of students in the classroom a couple of weeks ago.
My almost 95-year-old father is still waiting to get the vaccine. I know the amount of vaccine has been limited, but it’s kind of crazy that someone of his age is having trouble getting an appointment to get it.
I looked back at the post I wrote last year in March, and the predictions were for 100,000 – 200,000 deaths, which I said was crazy. What is even crazier is that they were off by a factor of 2.5.
Currently, the numbers are looking better across most of the country, and with 10% of Americans already vaccinated, we seem to be headed in the right direction. They are saying that there will be enough vaccines by the end of May to vaccinate every adult in the U.S. Even with all of this, I will be surprised if we are all back in the office anytime soon. My prediction is that won’t happen until into 2022. I hope I’m wrong.
That’s all for now. I’ll write on this subject in another six months, hopefully with better news.
