As we near our 13th month in a worldwide pandemic, we are getting ever leerier of wearing our masks and we are tired of hearing and seeing the signs of social and physical distancing. Too, we are experiencing virtual meeting fatigue, yet with the onset of three vaccinations, we are becoming fearless of being around others without protective devices.
As an autistic this fears me greatly, not in so much with the people who are well, rather than those who are not or cannot tell the symptoms that require oneself to remain at home and away from work or programming. I get that cabin fever has waned for an extended period of time, however when you are unsure to screen yourself or do your due diligence to stay on the safe side when experiencing symptoms that aren’t your normal regimen of activity, you are not only doing yourself a good service, but those that you interact with a courtesy because should something occur where you would test positive for COVID, then the precautions are taken and transmittal risk is lower as a result from the time you were last in contact.
Yes, we have vaccines and they are adding an additional layer of safety to our immunity system. There are many conspiracy theories out there and several stories that some hear that are not properly vetted out for validity. To that credit, the three vaccines that are out now, have only been approved around the winter and there is a lot of trial and error along with a lot of unknowns. This must be a valued decision that only you or should you have a person making decisions for you, then they will likely know what is best for you.
You would say I followed the “in” crowd of my family and got the vaccine. While there’s a lot of uncertainty, I like many others of all three vaccines that were administered over the past few weeks have rarely had a major side effect. I did hear someone did die, but that was one in several that are still here today. We don’t know what the long-term effects are, as we know very little the virus other than it’s like a flu, just a very variable variant of the flu. Until last year, I was very hesitant to get my influenza vaccine, but I as of this writing can assure you as I have follow-up visit with my family doctor in the fall, I will be getting the next annual dose of the influenza vaccine.
With that being said, while I am vaccinated, I will not continue to not let my guard down, even one week from today when I am supposed to have waned my immunity. I will still wear a mask and distance. I will gradually return to things as they open as politics are playing a part in my state capitol in regards to telehealth services being able to be continued. As such, I am learning that while I am mostly returning to my normal schedule, I need to realize that when something causes me to want to pout and go into meltdown because it isn’t fair or isn’t the way that I want it to be, I have to remember what we did before COVID and how things were then and while they were there and will get there eventually, we must also be cognizant of our inner health and realize that we may need to take more days off from being connected to work of day programs because it just may be too taxing for an individual.
I realized that I needed to do that last week and I was glad that I did and I returned back to normal schedule yesterday, it did present its transitional challenges for me where I want to revert back for a few more days, however, I realized that I needed to wise up and face the music, because someday, when the world returns to normal, that option may not be there, likewise it is a balancing act of where and when I need to be wanted.
In the meantime, be cautious, wear a mask, practice social or physical distancing and balance your virtual time with some rest and relaxation.
Dustin's Dynasty 