On March 25, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the expansion of eligibility guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccine. As of April 1, all Californians over the age of 50 will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. On April 15, any Californian over the age of 16 can get their shot too.
As the number of vaccines administered every day reaches 3 million, many people who are hoping for a normal summer are flocking to Twitter to express their excitement.
Seemingly everyone is planning to have summers filled with adventure in an attempt to make up for the lack of socializing that the pandemic has forced upon us over the last year.
In many ways, this wishful thinking is understandable. Staying inside and avoiding in-person interaction has been isolating for a lot of us. Even people who would describe themselves as introverts have had a difficult time adjusting to this new normal.
Humans are social by nature, and being denied the pleasure of spending quality time with friends and family in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 has been difficult. It is only natural that after a year of being stuck inside many of us are dreaming of better days.
All this optimism is understandable, but unfortunately, it is also misplaced. Just as vaccination rates are increasing drastically, so are new cases of COVID-19 across the country.
According to NPR, new daily COVID-19 cases have steadily increased over the last two weeks. They have reached a national average of 65,000 new cases a day, and many experts are fearing the onset of a fourth wave of infections.
On March 28, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, was nearly in tears during a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing.
“We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope,” Walensky said. “But right now, I’m scared.”
Walensky talked about a sense of “impending doom” as she saw the nationwide increase in COVID-19 cases that we have witnessed in the month of April.
At the same time that these case numbers are rapidly rising, states like Alabama and Texas are abandoning statewide mask mandates. At the same time, after a year of following strict safety protocols, many American’s are experiencing pandemic fatigue.
If we are going to see an end to this pandemic, however, we must remain vigilant. Now is unfortunately not the time to start fantasizing about what life will look like post-pandemic.
Vaccine accessibility increases every day, but it still varies from state to state. Until a majority of the American public is fully vaccinated, many activities that we enjoyed in the time before the pandemic are simply not smart to engage in.
Though there is clearly light at the end of the tunnel, the pandemic cannot be thought of in the past tense. Lives are still being lost to this disease, and we must stay vigilant if we want to see life return to normal sooner rather than later.
Until we reach herd immunity, we must continue to wear a mask, remain socially distanced in public spaces, as well as continue smart hygiene habits like frequent hand washing.
