You might be tired of being on lockdown, wearing masks, and social distancing, but you should still do it
I’m going to start this off by saying that the pandemic is still not over. Despite the vaccine roll-out and fewer reported cases in the news, people are still getting infected, people are still dying, and once this lockdown is lifted, the pandemic will not be over.
Let me repeat this again for those in the back:
The pandemic will not be over for some time.
I say this with frustration because people do not seem to get what their role in all of this is. It’s pretty simple — stay at home. If you do need to go out, keep your distance and wear a mask.
According to the Government of Canada, the estimated incubation period of the virus ranges from 1-14 days. The lockdown order grants us a month to stay home and keep ourselves and our loved one’s healthy. It’s not a lot to ask considering the last lockdown lasted most of 2020.
We have a vaccine that is gradually rolling out — and while it currently holds a short supply, and is being administered to vulnerable populations and frontline workers first, there is still a multitude of misinformation about it.
What I’ve been seeing online more than anything else is denial, conspiracy, a want for more information and then a scoff at the delivery of it.
Let’s quickly examine how vaccines work, according to the World Health Organization:
“Vaccines contain weakened or inactive parts of a particular organism (antigen) that triggers an immune response within the body. Newer vaccines contain the blueprint for producing antigens rather than the antigen itself. Regardless of whether the vaccine is made up of the antigen itself or the blueprint so that the body will produce the antigen, this weakened version will not cause the disease in the person receiving the vaccine, but it will prompt their immune system to respond much as it would have on its first reaction to the actual pathogen.”
To break it down, a vaccine tells your body how to fight; that’s all. No microchips, no active diseases, just a blueprint for your body to follow in case of infection. What else is there to possibly know?
Now, you could claim that you don’t know the ingredients, or how it’s made, but tell me, how many off-the-shelf Tylenol did you take in the last month? Advil? Allergy medication? Vitamins? Now, without looking, tell me exactly what’s in it and how it’s made. If you can then I applaud your research and memory, but I’m willing to bet that 90 per cent of you couldn’t be bothered, so how can you possibly care about what is going into this vaccine if it gets the job done?
I am disappointed and angered by people’s stubborn inclination to contest the legitimacy and efficacy of the vaccine, but what really grates on my nerves is the apparent inability for people to accept others’ experiences during this time.
To the people who haven’t been directly affected by this virus, whether personally or through a loved one or acquaintance: consider yourselves very lucky.
Your experience may just entail having to wear a mask when you go out to the store — a thin, sometimes scratchy, sometimes bothersome piece of fabric on your face.
However, the tens of thousands infected have not been so lucky.
How many of them could have been protected if they or others had just stayed home? How many could have just worn a mask when they went grocery shopping and prevented somebody else from getting infected?
As someone just trying to do anything they can to keep themselves and others healthy, it’s sickening, maddening, frustrating, and sad.
I want my life to go back to something equating to normal. I want to go to a movie, see a friend, visit my family, and walk through the mall without being paranoid that I might get sick, as I’m sure all of you do too.
But the only way, and I do mean the only way, that we’ll get through all of this is together.
I’m hopeful that there will be a light at the end of this tunnel soon, but we need to help each other through it in the meantime by realizing one thing; It’s not about you, it’s about everyone around you.
A version of this article appeared in print in The Ontarion issue 190.2 on Jan. 28, 2021
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