Dear Journal:
It’s spring, baseball season, gardening season. The kids are back to school four days a week, which they are loving, and our afternoons and evenings are full up with sports and activities. Also, big news for me, I officially reached “the end” on my new manuscript, finally! Added stress really does a number on creativity, I’ve learned this past year, and I want to say, “Thank You” to my family and everyone who’s supported me through the process of Covid-stress-writing a novel. It’s super great. Everyone should try it.
Sarcasm aside, my husband and I, and most of my adult friends and family, have now been vaccinated, and it feels like a weight lifting. Yes, I did get mild body aches and chills for a day, but it was worth it. We’re now much less likely to get a bad case, can hang out with our fully vaccinated friends and family (my parents came for an awesome in-person visit!) and we’re much less likely to transmit Covid to others if we did still catch it. We’re on our way, but I wish I felt we, as a country, were in the clear. Unfortunately, with Covid overrunning Brazil and India’s hospitals, with variants that hit younger people hard, and are likely already here in the U.S., I don’t.
If we look at what’s happening in those two, very distant countries, it’s clear we were right to worry about Covid breaking hospital capacity, because it has. People are dying waiting for medical care. It’s not only shortages of PPE and hospital beds, supplies and ventilators, but most importantly, doctors and staff to care for patients. They have all quickly run short in some very populous cities. If you’re the praying sort, the people of India and Brazil could use some prayers. More than that, they need vaccines and supplies. Please join me in calling on our government to increase shipments to countries hard hit by Covid-19.
For those who would say we can’t share, we can. We are already coming to a point where we have more vaccine than people willing to take it. And that’s a huge worry. So many Americans are refusing to get vaccinated that we won’t reach herd immunity, we literally can’t, not with 25% of Americans refusing. We’ve already lost over 574,000 Americans. Covid was the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. last year, after heart disease and cancer. There’s no vaccine for those first two, but there are vaccines for Covid. If you’re on the fence, I can personally attest it’s worth it.
Song of the day: Won’t Back Down, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Karen Harris Tully is a novelist living in Raymond with her husband and two small children. She writes sci-fi/fantasy for teens and adults and can be found at www.karenharristully.com.
