In the past month or so, the conversations about COVID have turned. We are no longer resigned to waiting without an end date. We’ve changed to looking forward to an end date: our personal vaccination appointment.
Friends send texts with absolute glee: I have my vaccination scheduled!” People post photos of injections on their social feeds of Instagram and Facebook: It’s done!”
The news no longer only tells us the statistics of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Instead, we see charts indicating the vaccination numbers going up; they report to us which age groups have opened up in which areas.
It’s making a palatable difference in the undercurrent that rolls through our lives now. Those who have noted their lives “have not changed all that much” are still the same people who are smiling under their masks, noting they feel much lighter somehow.
For months—no, for a full year now—I’ve greeted acquaintances with a heartfelt, “How are you doing? Is everything going OK with you and your family?”
Lately those interactions often start with, “How are the vaccinations going in your area?” It’s a silver lining to have a positive thing to talk about again!
