Do you, personally, know of anyone who had COVID? Yes or No? Yourself, family member, friend or other?
- 19 of 20 responded “Yes”. 1 respondent replied “multiple people”, while another mentioned “about a dozen people”.
- 1 respondent personally tested Positive for COVID on April 22nd, 2021 (approximately 7 weeks after a first dose of the vaccine); however, she remained asymptomatic. Apparently, the viral load was too low to check for variants.
- 1 respondent “may personally have had a mild case in February of 2020, following a work trip to Florida”, at a time before testing was available.
- Regarding relationships to known COVID cases – 6 mentioned Family Members, 12 mentioned Friends and 10 mentioned Others
- A number of respondents mentioned extended family and friends in other provinces (Alberta) and countries (The Netherlands).
In quick strokes:
Early in the pandemic, one could be heard asking if anyone knew of someone who had the virus and the answer was often, “No”. That is no longer the case.
If yes, to what degree were they ill? Tested positive, mild or worse symptoms, hospitalized?
- 8 responses to Tested Positive (possibly asymptomatic), 10 responses to Mild Symptoms, 9 responses to Worse (Severe Symptoms written in by some), 9 responses to Hospitalized and 4 responses to Died.
- Two cases were mentioned of a Positive result for a person who had received their first dose of the vaccine. In both cases, the people were asymptomatic.
- One respondent remarked that in a family of four, each person was affected differently by the virus. One child was better in two days, the other a week, one adult two weeks and one adult had to be hospitalized. Clearly, it is a different experience for everyone.
In quick strokes:
- In actual fact, all of us knew long time members of our church community, Helena O. (who died) and Jane U. who both had COVID.
- There are also other members of our church who have been dealing with varying degrees of severity of the virus in family members.
Did you, yourself, receive the vaccine yet? If yes, which? First or Second Dose?
- Of 20 responses – 2 respondents have had both doses, 17 have had a first dose of the vaccine, 1 respondent is “not sure yet”.
- Of the 19 who had a vaccine jab – 15 had Pfizer-BioNTech, 1 had Moderna, 3 did not specify
In quick strokes:
- It seems likely that, because of the increase in the number of vaccines and the delivery of same, more of us will have had their second dose or will now have an appointment booked for that second dose.
- Unfortunately, variants of the virus are increasing in number, severity and resistance to the vaccines, and the number of people refusing to follow safety guidelines is putting others at risk as well. The big question is “Will enough people take the vaccine”, if not for themselves then for everyone else?
- We have heard talk of a “certificate for proof of vaccination.” Early on, people doubted it; but now it appears something of that nature may come about. Some countries, provinces, businesses, cruise lines, airlines, tour companies, movie theatres, etc. have already announced their intention to require proof of vaccination. For instance, a tour company with which we have traveled and with whom we planned a tour for the Boomers sent notice just today that in the fall they expect to run tours … with a smaller number of travelers and a requirement that all be fully vaccinated. It makes sense, if they want their business to survive, they need travelers to feel confident that all safety precautions have been made.