The Coronavirus Catch Up

 Hey, kids!  We have a vaccine against COVID-19!

The long nightmare is over! 

Bye-bye, pandemic! 

Well... no.

Not quite. 

There's the old axiom about "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".

Enduring the pandemic and getting to it's end is a journey of a thousand miles and having a vaccine is but a single step on that journey. 

Administration of the COVID-19 vaccine began on Monday. 

Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, was the first person in New York state to receive the shot.

Here is what Lindsay said on this occasion: "I feel hopeful today. Relieved. I hope this marks the beginning to the end of a very painful time in our history. I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe.”  

“There’s light at the end of the tunnel, but we still need to continue to wear our masks, to social distance. I believe in science. As a nurse, my practice is guided by science, so I trust science. I encourage everyone to take the vaccine.”

Yes, there is a vaccine. No, the pandemic is not over and yes, we still have do all that stuff we need to do to keep each other safe, wearing masks and staying the hell away from each other. 

You know, all the stuff that makes sense to keep us safe but a big chunk of the American population still wants to turn into some kind of political statement or another culture war battlefield. 

We've reached a national death toll of 300,000 plus and quite frankly, we did not need to be here if masks and social distancing had not be politicized by Donald Trump and his ilk. 

There's a story from a couple of weeks ago about a man who was firmly on Trump's side of the fence when it came to the coronavirus pandemic, that it was not really all that bad and fears of the disease were being stoked by a liberal left wing eager to hurt Trump's chances of re-election. 

This man got COVID-19 and eventually died from it. His last words before he died? "We messed up."

Yes, we have a vaccine but we still have a long road ahead of us before this trial is finally behind us.

Here in the Fortress of Ineptitude, the continued march of the pandemic has one more made itself keenly felt.  

For a second time, our daughter Randie was exposed to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, a person who is experiencing symptoms. Randie took her 2nd COVID-19 test in 2 months as we all awaited anxiously for her results to come back. She tested negative with her 1st test last month but with the current surge in people getting sick, the whole family was worried that we may not be as lucky a 2nd time.  

So we wait for the results of her 2nd test, a worrisome step on a very, very long journey. 

UPDATE: test came back negative. Randie doesn't have the 'Rona!