This week, the CDC in the United States issued new guidelines that inform how vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals should behave around other people. For many, the guidelines offer a renewed sense of freedom that hasn't been experienced since the pandemic first began over a year ago. For others, hopefully, it provides incentive to get vaccinated, contributing to the greater good in public health.
Whether you agree with the new guidelines or not, which many medical professional are questioning, this announcement from the CDC does indicate that the country, unlike many other countries, seems to be transitioning to a more stable place in the pandemic. Let's be clear, we are still in a pandemic. But as more individuals get vaccinated, we collectively get closer to the end. At least that is the hope. The longer the virus continues to circulate, the greater the risk for a mutation, or series of mutations, that vaccinated individuals may not be protected from, which is the fear of many medical professionals. So, we must remain diligent, practicing care and caution for our own good as well as others'.
Meanwhile, it does 'feel' as if we are transitioning.
Now that I, my friends, and family members are fully vaccinated, life is transitioning from isolation to cautious interactions. Schools are opening up, business are opening, services are more available than ever.
I got a hair cut last week, for the first time in 8 months! I ate at a restaurant several times last week, on outdoor patios! I walked around in nature without a mask on for the first time in months, breathing in the (hopefully) virus-free fresh air, smelling the beautiful fragrances of nature. It has been exhilarating, uplifting, and liberating.
We certainly do not know what the future holds, especially for the pandemic. But for right now, let's hold on to hope for continued progress alongside caution as we do our individual parts to fuel that progress. Get vaccinated, keep masking where reason suggests it will help, encourage others to do both, and enjoy the freedom to breathe and live life more than has been possible this past year.
As we experience this shared transition, I want to mirror that here in this blog. Writing for you this past year has helped me manage my own anxiety and frustration, and I hope reading my blog has helped you, too. It seems like the appropriate time for this blog to move on to other topics. So, I will be taking a short hiatus from blogging (but not from life). I will be teaching a couple of short and intense college courses from mid-May to mid-June, and will return to this blog series with a new topic and with new energy on July 1, 2021.
I will announce the new topic as July 1 nears, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, feel free to go back to some of the posts from this past year to refresh your 'pandemic resilience' as we continue our marathon in this public health crisis. We've got this, as long as we all do our part to contribute to the greater good. Hang in there!
Meanwhile, as always---
Be well, stay safe and take care!
Dr WD