Is it time to check yourself?

A few years ago, there was a saying “You need to check yourself before you wreck yourself.” Usually said between frenemies, it was a not so subtle way to warn someone that they needed to be very careful what they said next. I’m not talking about that kind of checking however.

It’s been a year since the Pandemic shut the world down. In those first few months, country after country slammed their borders closed and instituted almost draconian measures to try to stop the spread of the virus. People all over the world shuddered at the incredible numbers of cases and deaths that were attributed to the virus.

The medical and scientific communities leaped into action and by working far beyond overtime, managed to create vaccines that are quite effective against the virus. As cases numbers declined, some countries, including the US, started to relax the restrictions. People were getting fatigued with the efforts being asked of them. They just wanted to get back to normal.

India, and Brazil are currently experiencing Coronavirus spikes. India’s numbers have reached staggering numbers and the effects are spreading to neighboring countries. The same can be said of Brazil. In the case of India, at least, the spikes are due to relaxed restrictions and new variants.

All of this brings me back to my original question, is it time to check yourself? Are you still doing all the protective and preventative measures that were first put into place a year ago? When you go shopping, do you still wear a mask? Do you make an honest attempt to maintain some distance between yourself and the person in line in front of you? Do you take the time to wipe off the hard surfaces of items you are bringing into your home?

More importantly, if you are eligible in your area, have you been vaccinated? I don’t mean just getting one shot if the brand requires 2 shots. Have you gotten both of them? While yes, just one dose of either Pfizer or Moderna is 80% effective against the virus, it also allows for more breakout cases to occur. Getting that second shot is important.