If You’re Worried About Virus Transmission During the Holidays, You’re Not Alone

I’m as happy as the next person that the COVID-19 pandemic is in a much better place than it was this time last year, and certainly this time two years ago. Thanks to safe and effective vaccines, many folks are better protected from severe disease from the virus, which definitely helps me sleep easier.

But one thing that has been keeping me up at night is the seemingly widespread idea that the pandemic has passed and that we don’t need to worry about protecting ourselves and our communities from COVID-19 this winter. I’ve seen this attitude reflected all over social media, as well as in the world around me—it’s almost as if nobody’s even heard of a mask, let alone thought of wearing one in a crowded store.

This misconception has been fueled in part by misleading messaging from the federal government; in September, President Biden said the pandemic was “over” in a 60 Minutes interview. (He later tried to backtrack, explaining that the pandemic isn’t as bad as it once was.)

On top of this, the CDC rolled back mask guidelines in health care settings right before the start of cold and flu season, as SELF previously reported, and local leaders have all but given up on emphasizing the importance of wearing masks this winter. This, combined with the fact that folks desperately want this to be over, has led to our current reality, in which very few people are taking the risks of COVID seriously anymore—despite the fact that every week, about 1,800 Americans are still dying from the virus, more than 300,000 are getting infected, and cases are steadily rising in much of the country, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

How concerned you are with getting or spreading COVID probably depends on your individual health and circumstances, but we should all be doing what we can to keep our communities well this winter, especially since the steps we can take to do so—like wearing a mask when you’re traveling for the holidays—are super simple. These precautions matter because they have the potential to save lives—but I also know that many people will roll their eyes at even basic preventative tactics at this stage in the pandemic.

The last three years have taken a toll on all of us, but that’s no excuse to give up now—even if masking up in supermarkets may earn you some strange looks. Though it feels superficial, I have to remind myself that it doesn’t matter what other people think, and that, in addition to keeping people safe, these practices have a minimal impact on my day-to-day life—the worst that could happen is that I could forget my mask and have to double back to my house or buy another.

The potential consequences of not being careful, however, are dire. I’m anxious about my personal well-being as well as the general health of my community; specifically, I’m scared of getting reinfected with COVID-19, which I got this past summer, and which wore me out for a full week. COVID is most definitely not “just a cold,” and we need to quit referring to it as such, especially since research is starting to unveil the potential health implications of reinfection, including a heightened risk of developing long COVID.

Source: SELF