My parents carried babies on their laps in cars. Kids sat on the front seat. You could pile a bunch of them in the back, or squeezed between grownups, or in the station wagon trunk (I rode many times like that). I went to a concert as a teen in a Gremlin packed with nine people (yikes, right?)
So at one point, people had to really change their behavior and inconvenience themselves to switch to seatbelt wearing; we just don’t remember because it was a long time ago and we are used to the way it is now.
My daughter takes her kids puffy coats off before she puts them in their car seats–apparently that’s the norm now. Still seems weird to me, but I get it.
No, none of this is black and white. I totally get deciding to sing with the choir and eat out sometimes. But that doesn’t have to mean a black and white “no more masks” decision. It could mean, wear them when it’s feasible, skip and take a tiny chance when it’s important to sing or run or eat.
None of this is black and white–that I think we can agree on.
Again, I agree on not judging. I am interested in the inner workings of folks decision trees, though!
Dito - in my case, I had the added experiences of my daughter’s many daily calls to CoVid emergencies (and occasional fatalities) in the early stages of the pandemic.
After vaccinations, I have decided not to restrict my activities any more - but I’m embracing what many pacific countries have found quite normal for decades: choosing to wear a mask in public indoor situations, because I don’t find it restrictive at all.
I have found that wearing good kf94 masks indoors and avoiding people who are coughing have helped H and me greatly reduce the # of colds and infections we have.
I normally get 1-6 infections every year. Since covid and being wearing good masks indoors more regularly, it was 2.5 years before i just got a flare up of my lung condition that is clearing up with the help of a short course of antibiotics. This is the longest I’ve been infection-free in 23 or more years!
Since November, when we started using Enovid antiviral nasal spray, we have been out in public more, including eating at larger gatherings, dining at restaurants and attending the local community theater that is now mask optional.
I feel that wearing masks indoors and using the spray helps me have a balance I find acceptable between being more social while staying healthy.
As far as I know, my husband and I have not had Covid. Neither have my daughter, son-in-law, or granddaughters. My other 2 daughters and their spouses have. One son-in-law has traveled for work throughout the last 3 years without getting sick, but they got it at a small party. The other couple think they got it at an outdoor music festival. Both of them do not restrict their activities in any way due to Covid at this point and mask only where required. The family with the children was very very cautious during the first two years but decided their oldest had to go to kindergarten this fall. After looking at all the data they also decided that masking at that age when they would be taking off masks for lunch and recess and would be one of the few people masking at the school would not offer any benefit. She hasn’t brought home Covid yet and the family does many other things they weren’t doing before, like taking the younger one to storytime and a playgroup. So no Covid (lots of testing), but they have not gone more than two weeks without someone being sick since school started! RSV, flu, assorted other viruses. It’s been crazy. I do remember mine being sick a lot the first year of daycare so it’s probably not abnormal, but after 2 years of no one being sick ever it’s been an adjustment! Everyone is vaccinated and boosted as many times as allowed.
We still have nearly a 9/11 worth of people dying of Covid every week in the US. That seems like a lot to me, but most are older or sicker. Still. I typically wear a mask when I’m going to be indoors with large groups of people, don’t eat inside restaurants, and don’t go to the gym. But I have made exceptions for special events that seemed worth the risk. My KN95s are very comfortable, much more so than the cloth or surgical masks were.
I do worry most about long Covid. I am pretty excited about the recent study showing two weeks of metformin can cut the risk of long Covid in half! Now I just have to find a doctor who will prescribe it for me based on that study. One of the most frustrating things to me has been primary care doctors who aren’t prescribing Paxlovid routinely for folks over 60. I have had to urge several folks who have risk factors to push their doctors in order to get it. Even an obsese, 70-year-old with liver disease had to ask for it! That’s insane to me. I know vaccines cut the risk of long Covid, Paxlovid looks like it might a bit (based on observational studies, not random control studies), and now metformin does (in a RCT). We could be getting to a low enough to not worry about it any more risk for me!
The preprint study found that the metformin group had a 42% lower incidence of long COVID compared to placebo. The ivermectin group had basically no difference, while the fluvoxamine group had a 36% higher incidence.
Two years ago, vaccines were only beginning to become available… did they have any vaccine before getting COVID-19?
My observation was that severe disease and long COVID were substantial risks before vaccine, but the risks went down with vaccine (and more so after booster).
So the fact that I’ve been taking Metformin for many years could have contributed to my not knowingly catching Covid? Interesting! Helps balance the increased risk of complications from just having diabetes.
I was vaccinated very early (psychotherapist seeing clients face to face in the office) and had all my boosters as soon as they were available, including bivalent. When I got Covid in May 2022, it passed pretty quickly and I took Paxlovid which probably helped as well. But my long Covid symptoms have been just awful. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I was just approved by my Medicare Advantage plan to take Dupixent. I can only hope that it kicks in quickly. I am housebound now, working from home.
It’s scary stories like the one posted above, and all that @Garland witnessed, that kept me in a constant state of high covid anxiety for 2+ years that negatively affected my health in a number of ways. I couldn’t let go of the “what if’s?” (for me and my family) and every new story I read just added to the stress of risk-assessment and of being around other people (loved ones) in unmasked situations. I feel so much healthier now that I have let all that go, and guess what? I did get covid (probably from church/choir), and it was super mild, and now I have even better hybrid immunity. I no longer live in fear and that’s a well-being game-changer for me.
@Embracethemess I totally get that. I hope I didn’t start that anxiety worm wiggling up intrusive thoughts! It is what it is. I am grateful that I may have relief from my symptoms at last. Here’s hoping!
No worries, I was referring to the post further up about the teen-ager athlete and the young deaths. Interestingly, I have a dear friend who also got covid in May 2022 and is suffering from long covid - mostly extreme fatigue that ebbs and flows but can shut her down if she doesn’t very careful pace herself. She is the only person I know with LC, and I haven’t (personally) heard of anyone with a new case since then. I hope you find relief soon!!