17 Months in COVID-19 Pandemic

17 months into the pandemic and whatever optimism that I felt earlier about the vaccines helping the country return to normal this fall has evaporated. Last spring, I was very optimistic that by this time, I would be planning fall foliage/birding trips…that maybe we would be able to do the Staunton River Star Party – camp out on the field with other amateur astronomers. Now I am not looking seriously at any non-family related travel. I am hoping to be able to make another road trip to Texas for my mother’s 90th birthday in the early fall.

I’ve already posted about the road trip I took to Texas during this last month. It was the second one this year and very different than I expected when it came to COVID-19. The first trip was back in April-May just after I was fully vaccinated. At that time – I felt relatively secure and hopeful that the pandemic would be waning over the summer; the hotel had COVID-19 precautions in place and many people were wearing masks. I became more anxious as the second road trip progressed. The delta variant was surging in some areas when I drove from Maryland to Missouri to Texas, but other areas seemed relatively untouched. I limited my activities in Springfield, Missouri (one of the early places that the delta variant filled the hospitals); there were two indoor events I attended for a wedding in Dallas where it still seemed safe. By the time I started home, the delta variant was surging in more areas, no one was wearing a mask along my route except me (even in the hotel), and I was anxious enough about the possibility that I had been exposed to buy and use the at-home antigen test even though I never developed any symptoms. Based on statistics – if I was exposed and had a breakthrough infection, it would not be life threatening but I didn’t want to risk any ‘long COVID’ issues or expose others. It was reassuring to test negative with two tests. I was grateful that my daughter had convinced me to upgrade from cloth masks to KF94s last spring before I made my first trip. They are the mask I have been wearing since April.

The dominant emotion I feel now about COVID-19 is sadness – for the lives damaged and lost since the vaccine has become widely available…for not being with my family as much as I would like or traveling to places I enjoy…for the self-destruct aspect of the US culture that continues to surprise me (it is hard for me to accept its pervasiveness)…for the failure of leadership, particularly at the state level.

Mask mandates for indoor settings are something that can be helpful in the short term…but vaccine mandates might be even more important. With the full FDA approval of the vaccines, maybe vaccine mandates will become more widespread. They are already beginning to happen in health care, military and school settings. It will be a long slog with legal challenges, unfortunately.

I am conscious of activities I won’t be restarting anytime soon – as long as the delta variant continues to cause spikes in cases:

Flying. COVID-19 is just one of the reasons. The increased number of incidents with unruly passengers is another. I was disheartened that some airlines recently declined to mandate vaccines for their employees.

Eating in restaurants. I’ll enjoy take out but with the delta variant there is no way the filtration systems can make it safe to eat in the same indoor space with other unmasked (while eating) patrons.

Any spaces where there are a lot of people. Theaters are not a place I would want to be; same for stores during times when a lot of people are shopping. Even parks are problematic if there are large numbers of people.

I am going to the training for the fall programs where I have volunteered in years past. Most of the programs are outdoors…I’ll do some of them this fall…skip the ones that have an indoor setting.

Last spring – I expected that the August post might be my last about my COVID-10 pandemic experiences. But it isn’t over yet. So frustrating….and sad.