Covid-19: Changing the way we live

For a minute there, everything was starting to feel like it was slowly creeping back to normal, just a little bit. It gave us hope, we got excited and starting pressing on with our lives again. But now we’re faced with the dejected reality of the virus once again. It’s not gone, and it never was. So, what now?

COVID-19 cases are at an all-time high right now in Houston, and many other parts of the US, with cases on the rise some states are now slowing down their reopening plans. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak stated Wednesday. “The pandemic is not over; we are still in the middle of the first wave of COVID,”.

            Until a vaccine hits the shelves, our lifestyles will have to change a little bit. Vaccinations are in the works; in fact, many pharmaceutical companies have received millions of dollars in funding to ramp up manufacturing. Joseph Kim, CEO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc., which has said it plans to have millions of doses of its vaccine candidate by the end of this year. “We expect to finish enrollment of all 40 volunteers before the end of April,”.  Nevertheless, several companies developing COVID-19 vaccines have pledged millions and sometimes billions of doses of vaccines that have yet to prove their efficacy.

So, we’ll eventually have a vaccine, but no one knows for sure when. There’s no doubt that this isn’t over, and we need to conform to this new way of life. Instead of waiting around to find out, we can choose find happiness with what we’re presented. The reality is there’s a virus going around, we need to protect ourselves and our families. This could be a good time to self-heal, or spend more quality time with the ones you live with. Take your dog on more walks, drink more water, focus on your work, or save money.

This could be a chance for us all to reflect on our lives thus far, disconnect from the material world we grew up in, and appreciate the little things in our lives. Whatever it is you decide to do, try to find the silver lining in this pandemic, instead of waiting for it to be over, because you never know when that might be.

 

 

References:

Treisman, R 2020, ‘With COVID-19 Cases Rising, Some States Slow Their Reopening Plans’, NPR, 24, June, accessed 25 June 2020 

Lee, J, 2020 ‘Race for a COVID-19 vaccine has drug makers scaling up manufacturing — before one is developed’, Market Watch, accessed 25, June 2020

Clifford, T 2020 ‘Inovio Pharmaceuticals expects to finish recruiting coronavirus vaccine volunteers by the end of April, CEO says’, CNBC, 25, June 2020