Francy that: An unwanted holiday guest lurks

Last spring, after months of following Covid-19 guidelines, we completed a road trip to South Carolina. Many activities were outdoors or in buildings that required masks. No Covid symptoms upon our return. I flew to Florida for a week in May. Safe again.

Maybe we were too careless, over-confident that the Covid pandemic had missed us. We relaxed our defenses. After a cautious return to attending church services, birthday parties and family gatherings — mask-free, hugs all around — life felt normal again.

As autumn approached, recommendations for booster shots, a second one for us, came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health offices. We opted to wait for the updated booster that would target the Omicron variant as well. The timing for making the appointment and receiving the shot never meshed. Too late for me. On Oct. 11, it felt like a cold coming on, but something seemed awry. Slight fever, stuffy nose, and then the positive Covid test.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Feb. 15, “You may be done with Covid, but Covid is not done with the United States — nor is it done with the world.”

It appears he is right. We have been finding that an increasing number of friends and acquaintances are contracting Covid after dodging the virus for two-plus years. Most are vaccinated and boosted. Vice president Kamala Harris, Rochelle Walensky, the head of the CDC, Dr. Fauci and, most recently, John Kerry, the U.S. envoy to the COP27 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Egypt, have contracted the illness. Surely, they have been provided with some of the best medical care in the country, but Covid still found its way into their systems.

Immunity created from having the disease does not seem to guarantee protection either. Our daughter and her husband were vaccinated and boosted in February when they came down with Covid. It proved to be more than a mild case. He received a second booster in the summer, but they both contracted Covid in early September. This time it was milder. On Oct. 12, they again tested positive for Covid, likely contracting it at the same family birthday party that I attended. This time she said the symptoms were moderately severe and more similar to those they experienced in February.

My Covid experience was manageable, more like a bad cold. On the other hand, my husband has not fared as well. After spending two weeks in his recliner, it has taken another three weeks to claw his way back to resuming some of his daily activities. Fatigue is a constant companion. He has lost weight, his appetite, and his spark.

On the bright side, none of us became severely ill or required hospitalization.

Many of us have lived long enough to see numerous diseases contained with vaccinations: smallpox, polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, to name a few. Fauci said in April that "we are not going to eradicate this virus."

So, as we gather for the holiday season, we need to be aware there may be an unwanted SARS-CoV-2 guest joining us at the table.

Francy is a retired English teacher and clinical psychologist who loves living in Carlton County.