You’re free! After a year of living in fear of the relatively unknown virus, you are now finally free to do whatever you want — provided you are already vaccinated. COVID has ravaged almost all countries in the world in such a short amount of time. In just a year, the number of people victimized by the virus has gone to 173 million.
The deaths were so staggering that governments were forced to shut down entire countries to contain the transmission of the virus. Everyone held on to their breaths as uncertainty regarding how to stem the virus was nowhere to be found. As the different states eased the lockdown measures and restrictions to their respective governed citizens, people grew restless waiting for a vaccine.
The earliest news we got regarding the development of a vaccine came months after the initial breakout of the disease. Vaccines, on average, take 10 to 15 years to develop safely. Thanks to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the program called Operation Warp Speed, all efforts to quickly procure the COVID-19 vaccine were focused on a few scientific research and development pharmaceutical companies. A few months later, here we all are. According to the latest data, almost half of the American population already got vaccinated 41.9%. Hopefully, by year-end, everybody will be vaccinated.
As the country opens up, the newly vaccinated are excited to try out the things deprived of them for at least a year. The lifestyle of the newly vaccinated is something to envy. What are the things the newly vaccinated are privileged to do?
Travel
Traveling shouldn’t be a problem for those who are fully vaccinated. The outlook for traveling abroad was bad during the initial stages of the virus. One of the blamed reasons why the virus spread so fast was the inaction of the governments regarding tourists and travelers. Airlines were still allowing international and local travel as abrupt travel interruptions will ensure their demise. Despite the warnings given by health authorities, traveling was still prevalent. Thankfully, with more and more people getting inoculated, we can return to our annual traveling activities, whether with friends, with family, or for work.
Healthcare Checks
Health checkups will no longer be a scary thing to do if you are fully vaccinated. Vaccination ensures that even if you get the virus yourself, you will not die nor be hospitalized because of severe COVID symptoms. One of the reasons the virus took longer to contain is that the healthcare system couldn’t bear the load of all the severe cases happening all at once. Since the surge was overwhelming, not even those who had healthcare checks that are non-COVID related can come to hospitals.
The virus was so contagious that doctors advised their patients to settle for teleconferencing consultations. With the vaccination underway, the pressure to evade going out is no more. You can go to the dentist for all you care once you are vaccinated. No one would blame you for getting gold orthopedic braces as a sign of celebration. You can get that lingering back pain checked, finally.
Going to School
Going to school physically will eventually be one of the perks of being fully vaccinated. Not everyone is pro-vaccines. Some conspiracy theorists speculate that vaccines are a part of some nefarious plan to sterilize the entire world society. However, this is not the case. Some fail to understand the importance of having the entire community vaccinated. Herd immunity cannot be understated. The same goes for schools. Children will have a hard time staying healthy for school if they are not vaccinated. Children need to be eventually vaccinated themselves to protect their elderly loved ones from getting sick.
Work
While not everyone misses the office, the work-from-home setup is already taking a toll on millions of people worldwide. COVID has caused many large corporations alike to utilize all resources to establish remote offices for their employees. Work has shifted to a remote setting for most companies. To stem the virus from spreading, most workers were forced to move their offices to the sanctity of their homes. At first, these seemed like an insanely rare opportunity to get more done.
As the months progressed, however, Zoom fatigue started to make its way to the news websites. Various mental health checks were conducted for employees to ensure that fatigued employees get the rest they need. Remote working has transformed the home life into one of the workplaces. As work and rest began to get intermixed, people became burnt out through the pandemic.
Becoming vaccinated ensures the first ticket back to office work. The presence of an actual office deters certain superiors from reaching out to their employees beyond work hours, which was extremely prevalent during the work-from-home scenario during the pandemic.
