COVID-19 Lockdown, Day 265

 It happened. Yesterday, December 11, 2020, The FDA approved Pfizer's 95% effective COVID-19 vaccine. After all the sickness, drama, death, finger-pointing, isolation, unemployment, and chaos, a vaccine could be available as early as Monday morning. Very soon, COVID-19 will take the same exit as the Spanish Influenza and the Black Death. Very soon, I will hug my friends and shake hands with strangers without worrying about becoming ill. Very soon, stadiums will be filled with roaring fans, and churches (hopefully) will be standing-room-only. Yes, very soon, social distance will be replaced with social closeness. God be praised!

The question that lies ahead is, "What have we learned?" Indeed, what have we learned--as Americans and as humans. Regrettably, for some, no lesson was learned. They will still be just as selfish and overindulgent as ever. They will still have the wrong priorities. They will still celebrate immorality and hatred. If anything is learned, I hope it is respect for nurses and medical doctors. As cliché as this has become, they are truly heroes. Still, there are heroes that have not gotten the proper respect, and those are the social workers and counselors. We may have not checked vitals and performed procedures, but we make sure that people are not forgotten in hospital shuffles. They make sure that people don't lose the benefits they need. They educate on health and safety. They give hope to the despairing. Social workers are heroes too! Therefore, when you thank a nurse, a doctor, an electrician, and a fast food cashier, don't forget us. We save lives too. 

With the approval of the vaccine ,  I guess I must change my question in regards to this blog. I might do a few more posts just to see what the results of the vaccine are, but I might start a new blog for my devoted readers. Any ideas about what the blog should be about would be appreciated.  

Finally, I want to share a poem written by Laura Kelly Fanucci. I hope each of you will take the poem to heart so that we will continue to appreciate certain things even when the pandemic ends. 



“When this is over,

may we never again take for granted;

A handshake with a stranger, Full shelves at the store,

Conversations with neighbors,

A crowded theater, Friday night out,

The taste of communion, A routine checkup,

The school rush each morning, Coffee with a friend,

The stadium roaring, Each deep breath! A boring Tuesday. Life itself.

When this ends, may we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be,

we were called to be,

we hope to be,

and may we stay that way — better for each other because of the worst.”

--Signing off.

https://apnews.com/article/emergency-use-covid-19-vaccine-explained-c8cca451619c1705e06414a32c20facb

https://mymemorymatters.org/when-this-is-over-by-laura-kelly-fanucci/

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