I’ve been having the same strange nightmare lately. I dream I am spending time with friends and going to parties. I am enjoying myself and everything is going great, then it hits me that we are still in a pandemic and aren’t allowed to gather.
I start to panic, worried about breaking the restrictions, and wondering how I could have let this happen. Then I wake up, relieved it was just a dream.
Vaccines are a hot topic right now, since they increase the possibility of spending time with our loved ones.
When we talk about vaccines, people have a little more pep in their step and joy in their voices.
I remember reading articles last spring about how difficult it is to develop vaccines for any of the coronaviruses. I made a conscious effort to not get my hopes up, knowing it could be a very long wait.
Now we have three approved vaccines in Canada. It’s pretty incredible. I can’t imagine the pressure these teams felt working around the clock to develop these vaccines.
Everyone I know is waiting for their turn in the government’s mass-vaccination rollout plan.
We’ve been told that after receiving a vaccine, we will still need to keep protocols in place. I think it’s important for us to celebrate these vaccines and to know that by summer, each of us who wants one will have one.
I have had plenty of times in my life when I assumed one event would change my life for the better, and I’ve learned that while in the long term, that’s true, in the short term, there are other factors.
I remember when I needed major surgery, I thought that the surgery would answer all my problems.
I am a perpetual optimist, so after that surgery, I was in for a rude awakening during the healing process.
When it comes to vaccinations, I have to remind myself that it is going to be a similar experience. Vaccines will improve things in the long run, but it doesn’t mean that we can start attending house parties again. Masks, handwashing and physical distancing will continue to be a part of our lives.
When we get a tetanus shot, it doesn’t make us reckless around rusty nails.
I am very optimistic about our futures and getting back to “normal.” I also know that COVID-19 has changed us and there are going to be lasting effects. Some will be from the virus itself, and others from how we have been mentally affected by the pandemic and all of the repercussions.
Even if things are not going to be “fixed” immediately, we are making great strides.
It will take time, but I am certain we will get there.
If you are feeling like this is going to take forever and require some optimism, I highly suggest you watch some videos on the effects of polio, the polio vaccine and mass vaccination.
Most of us have heard about polio but haven’t seen it in person. Watching videos about the debilitating effects of the disease and its impacts on the community helped me better understand that point in our history. Seeing how mass vaccination protected communities and future generations is incredible.
It’s a good reminder of how far we’ve come with polio and gain some confidence in the long-term results against COVID-19.
As a watched the videos on the polio vaccine rollout, my daughter came up behind me, peered over my shoulder and said: “What’s polio?”
Let’s hope future generations ask the same question about COVID-19.
Charla Huber is the director of communications and Indigenous relations for the M’akola Housing Society.
