Life during the COVID-19 pandemic has been lonelier than I expected. My introversion has been useful in this time of isolation, but it did not prepare me for the simultaneous crushing ideological loneliness that has come from watching others respond to the demands of the pandemic. I feel more disconnected from my peers now than I ever have before.

NPR — Will Stone

I Got a Mild Breakthough Case: Here’s What I Wish I’d Known

It was a miserable five days. My legs and arms ached, my fever crept up to 103 and every few hours of sleep would leave my sheets drenched in sweat. I’d drop into bed exhausted after a quick trip down to the kitchen. To sum it up, I'd put my breakthrough case of COVID-19 right up there with my worst bouts of flu. Even after my fever cleared up, I spent the next few weeks feeling low.

The writer of this article got sick and didn’t enjoy the results — which is not surprising, because who wants to get sick with flu-like symptoms? I’ve heard from those against the COVID-19 vaccination that we shouldn’t fear COVID-19 because it is no worse than the flu (a sickness that did at one time kill a huge portion of people). I hate getting the flu and take the flu vaccine to try to avoid getting sick. I take allergy medication because I don’t like having seasonal allergies. I don’t understand the aversion to reacting to COVID-19 by taking a vaccine (and wearing masks and not coughing on each other).

I look around and see people still stuck with their first impression: this is just another flu. But COVID-19 is not just another flu — and besides, why would another flu be a good thing? Why are we finding another flu-level amount of death an acceptable statistic to add to our lives? Why are we boldly proclaiming that the thousands of preventable deaths in our community are acceptable?

Ark Times — Max Bradley

About vaccine resistance and religious exemptions

What is the religious basis for COVID resistance? One has been that at some stage in development or testing, long ago, fetal cells may have been involved in the process that led to the development of certain of the vaccines.

Here is an example of reacting to something without understanding it. The use of aborted fetal cells is one that causes furious reactions from many, but I think that’s because leaders in that community have caused the fervor, rather than it coming from a genuine complaint within the community. The reason for my skepticism is because fetal cells are used in many other medications that are still being taken by critics of the vaccine. I think that much of this fervor has little to do with the vaccine itself and more with the conspiracy built around the subject.

I think that we should be okay about not knowing some things and remaining open to learning so that we don’t make a choice that we might later regret. It saddens me to see how many people are being harmed by the grift of conspiracies and the groups spreading those baseless assumptions.