Before Covid we could do anything we wanted. Go out to restaurants. Hang out with friends. See family during the holidays. And we took it all for granted. None of us thought that one day we might not be able to do any of those things. Then, in early 2020, all of our lives changed forever. The Coronavirus changed so much of our lives and we are just starting to get back some semblance of life before.

Before:

In the Before, we enjoyed things with other people. Whether it be hanging out with friends or going to dinner with a spouse, we all did things that we now miss. Even going to a school normally and in person was a drag, but we would soon find out it was also a privilege. Anyone who has been affected by this virus (which is everyone in the developed world) knows that the Before was a better time when lock downs and mask-mandates didn’t exist. 

During:

When the school closed on May 13, 2020, everyone at UHS was excited. An excuse to miss school for a few days? Amazing! Or so we thought. Soon a few days turned into a year and a half. Virtual school became our new normal and not leaving the house for days at a time was commonplace. Social interaction wasn’t the only thing we lost. During its height in January 2021, there were 848.2 new Covid cases and 13.2 deaths for every 100,000 people. AJMC The Clinic for Biosimilars said, “March 11 represents the one-year anniversary since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.” Everyone knows someone who has had it. Eventually things got better. The vaccine came out in August of this year and cases went down. 

After:

There are many discussions on whether or not the pandemic is truly over or not. Lock downs have been lifted, but there are still vaccine mandates in some states, as well as schools, and doctors offices. This has become a very prevalent political issue and there are many debates on the ethics behind mask mandates and proposed vaccine mandates. Some federal employees are already required to have gotten the vaccine. Though, there are many who still argue the efficiency of the vaccine and whether or not it is helpful at all. Either way, things seem to be returning to a semblance of the normalcy we all enjoyed in the Before. We are enjoying things we once used to such as hanging out with friends and going to a nice restaurant. This is especially prevalent during the upcoming holiday season when folks are enjoying seeing family for the first time in over a year, some more. Hopefully this trend will continue and we will all get back to the normalcy that we used to have.

Citations:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/

     #demographicsovertime. Accessed 23 Nov. 2021.

AJMC Staff. “A Timeline of COVID-19 Vaccine Developments in 2021.” AJMC, 3 June

     2021, www.ajmc.com/view/

     a-timeline-of-covid-19-vaccine-developments-in-2021. Accessed 23 Nov. 2021.

“FDA Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine.” U.S. Federal Drug Administration, 23 Aug.

     2021, www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/

     fda-approves-first-covid-19-vaccine. Accessed 23 Nov. 2021.