Impacts of the artificial sense of safety brought by the COVID-19 vaccines and how it slows down the healing of the pandemic
The COVİD-19 vaccine has been wavering people’s and companies’ willingness to be on board with restrictions and it is an issue that needs to be addressed
The spirit seen last March into doing efforts and staying home seems to be vanishing as time passes and governments started loosening the social distancing enforcement aspect of the matter. It is observable the fact that after summer — here in the northern hemisphere — most countries have studied strategies to let people enjoy a bit more of their controlled freedom, having in mind how much more resources we had compared to when the problem was new. What wasn’t taken into account is the fact that by then the studies for vaccines though in good stages, were not done and the pandemic seemed to be under control solely because of the measures taken to reduce our circulation.
What is being observed now after the second wave has hit Europe in November, is that we need to stay mindful that the adaptations made and the habits acquired after months of isolating ourselves, in different degrees, must keep strong. The news of treatments and vaccines being developed by various organizations are surely a beacon of hope, but what that has caused is a collective change in mentality where the scientific advances, as great as they are, became an unconscious excuse to let go and live as if the problem is over. It is not.
Specialists agree that any vaccination campaign takes around two years of activity to be effective on a social level. Sure it is great and should be celebrated that healthcare professionals and overall population at risk are now protected but in order to relax so much, we’d need to be much further into vaccination and fall of the curve to breath so loosely, especially in when it comes to choosing to fill rooms with crowds simply because “it is my birthday and we all will be vaccinated soon”. As a result, the numbers skyrocketed and hospitals, that were somewhat more tranquil, started getting crazy amounts of admissions again, but just when it was more urgent to revisit the restrictions of being in a state of exception in a personal level, people got the news of vaccines that were done and ready in the New Year.
In Turkey, the government imposed a curfew on weekdays from 21:00 to 05:00 right in November but people didn’t seem to mind. The gatherings continued and the “off-the-record” open bars allowed people in. Right when we needed, as a society, to get serious again, there came the new cycle/end of the pandemic vibe — which were not only not true but in fact harmful. The government tries and imposes rules specialists study about but as individuals, even with curfews at night and partial lockdowns during the weekends, people got tired — not excusing recklessness and disregard with common safety, it is just a fact.
The overall tiredness of being isolated and having to form new routines from chaos, has taken a mental toll on everyone, from a degree to another. The psychological impact is even greater if we bring into discussion people who have not only their remote jobs, but also a family life or a house to take care of or multiple tasks created from this situation. It is understandable that after so many months of not having any type of predictability in so many fundamental aspects of their lives people don’t show the same energy to keep all the caution, though necessary.
The second wave has been a reminder that our generation will tell: a pandemic is far trickier and requires much more of us than we’d have anticipated. It is not the time to get out and get going as it was, or even aspire to. The false sense of safety and the hopes put on the vaccines right now are not beneficial in the long run; they will delay how much the “normalization” of COVİD-19 shall take. With new variants and so much more urban flow than in the beginning of the pandemic, the mere start of vaccination is not enough to shake the spirit of social distancing within our possibilities and attention to basic hygiene or cleaning routines acquired in the midst of this issue. Putting aside the great news that vaccine and treatments are a reality, this is still the beginning of the recovery, which doesn’t mean the end of the disease. Not yet.
