Post-Vaccination Life: Revival or Dark Age?

Robert Crohan/Staff Writer

With the arrival of vaccines for COVID-19, many assumed that the pandemic would come to a swift end. And the signs were promising…

Until they weren’t.

With a new barrier to full conquest erected, the virus mutated a great many times to adjust. This is normal for diseases, but scientists claim that COVID-19 is mutating at an extremely unprecedented rate. Two variants are 50% more lethal and more contagious than the other emerging within eighteen months.

This has challenged us tremendously. Cases are on the uptick in many states and more otherwise healthy young people are falling ill.

I have said before that I am living with a vulnerable family member who may very well die if infected. And living in this triggering environment for almost an entire year made me mentally distressed by 2020’s end. Thus, the prospect of the pandemic worsening after showing signs of improving for months ropes a dark cloud over my head. However, I am left with some hope.

Americans don’t seem to be taking the Delta and Lambda variants seriously, with businesses and schools opening at a drastic rate and public health requirements being lifted. Plus, outbreaks are occurring in areas with fewer vaccinations. And now, vaccinated Americans are catching and spreading COVID-19.

At the same time, however, I have been lucky enough to have avoided COVID-19 despite my out-of-state travels that lasted months. 

Not to push my luck, but I have been wearing one of the most effective masks, the N95, and try to hold my breath and close my eyes when around others. Therefore, while limiting non-essential travels, I can stay safe if I am alert. And I am healthy and therefore unlikely to fall ill if I were to contract the disease. My family does well in monitoring symptoms and staying cautious.

This has definitely helped me feel more relaxed than I was last year. However, the fact that my family remains in danger, and that a resurgent virus could upend our lives once again, fill me with frustration. It pains me to see our fellow Americans threatened with yet another devastating wave after our valiant efforts to crush the outbreak.

This has made me nervous for the FIU community, as we remember traumatically the horror that the pandemic inflicted on South Florida families. Most of us know multiple people who have been infected or killed.

I am cautiously eager to return to FIU, whose very lax relaxation of rules is a cause of concern for me. Given that I plan to spend another semester, this fall, off-campus, spring is my last opportunity to experience FIU. I desperately hope the opportunity is not yanked away.

However, on an optimistic note, some scientists have argued that the pandemic’s end within the next few years is all but guaranteed. The reason? It’s not just vaccinations: viruses might eventually run out of “tricks” and be doomed to a relatively stagnant state.

This may happen next month. It may happen in five years. But what terrifies me is the potential for COVID-19 to mutate to a point where we cannot stop it. Should that happen, the death toll will certainly surpass that of the Spanish Flu, which killed over 50 million worldwide.

Thankfully, this is infinitely unlikely, and I am encouraged by my friends and family to take the proper precautions. I know that FIU will respond strongly to another outbreak, should it occur. 

It pains me to think that this may continue for years. And I am enraged that the politicians around the world who enabled this calamity will most likely never be held to account.

I have faith that the world will come together in the name of stopping new and improved COVID-19 variants in their path. Although I will never stop being careful, I am somewhat relieved by the progress being made and in fact, see brighter days coming. As President Biden says, “our best days still lie ahead.” But don’t expect grand postwar-style jubilation in the streets just yet.

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community