Over a year and a half ago, the pandemic was officially declared in March 2020. As it drags on, COVID continues to take a toll on its victims.

Junior David Renfrow and Rileigh Glassman experienced mild cases of COVID in July 2020 and August 2021. Their bodies recovered within a couple of weeks while history and journalism teacher Erin Coggins struggled with a more permanent consequence. Rather than losing taste or smell, she lost her dad.

”My oldest sister lives with my parents. She came down with COVID on Dec. 18. My parents caught the virus just before Christmas. My sister had chills as her first symptoms. My Mom sounded like she had a terrible head cold. My Dad struggled to breathe,” Coggins said. “My Mom actually tested positive and my Dad negative the day after Christmas. We called the ambulance for my Dad on Dec. 30. He tested positive at the hospital and never came home.”

Personally struggling with the physical symptoms, Renfrow was concerned for his family’s health when he discovered he contracted the virus. After quarantining, he is thankful they never got it from him.

”I started by feeling really fatigued and achy. Once I couldn’t taste or smell anything, it appeared to be the virus,” Renfrow said. ”The virus affected me much like a common cold, but it was slightly worse.”

Glassman thinks she got it from her brother since he was sick a day or two before she showed any symptoms. Spreading throughout the household, her stepdad got it as well. At the time, they were not sure it was COVID.

“I woke up late for school on a Thursday morning feeling dizzy. I started a hot shower to get ready for the day and got light-headed,” Glassman said. ”I stopped getting ready for school and told my mom that something didn’t feel right. She suggested that I stay home for the day and I did, hoping to get some of my work done.”

COVID symptoms span across a spectrum. For Glassman, they began as minor and discrete. For Coggins’s family, the signs were more telling and worrisome.

“As soon as I learned my sister had COVID, I panicked. My Dad had underlying symptoms and had battled with some medical issues the year prior,” Coggins said. “I knew if he caught the virus that the outcome could be bad. Dad was sick for less than a month. He was tired though, and that made it tough for him to fight the way he needed to fight to beat it.”

Renfrow had minor symptoms, the most prominent was exhaustion. It was not a walk in the park, but according to Renfrow it “wasn’t terribly bad” either.

Renfrow and Glassman had COVID a year apart, yet the symptoms were just as real. Glassman felt feverish and struggled with the loss of taste and smell because it was a symptom she never experienced before.

“My symptoms were bad but not as bad as others. It was definitely different compared to any other illnesses I’ve had,” Glassman said. “Losing my taste and smell was disappointing because I was in bed the majority of the time so I would look forward to eating. I lost my appetite because of not being able to taste, so eating wasn’t enjoyable.”

Losing her appetite was the least of Coggins’s worries. On Dec. 30, her dad stayed in the emergency room for three nights as they waited for an available room. Her dad was in a room for two nights before they moved him to the ICU. Once on the ventilator, his kidneys began to fail, his blood pressure plummeted and eventually, the machine was breathing for him.

It was difficult for Coggins to not be with her family when they needed each other the most. It was particularly difficult because it occurred around the supposed happiest time of year—Christmas.

“We did not get to do our annual Christmas gathering and now I will never have the opportunity to be with my Dad on Christmas, again. He loved Christmas,” Coggins said. “Not being able to be in the hospital when he was dying was the most difficult part of having to quarantine him. I have had to really strengthen my relationship with God to try and understand grief. I finally understood the meaning behind people saying “‘it’s okay to not be okay.’”

People who have experienced the virus struggled because of the mental isolation that comes with it rather than the physical symptoms. Renfrow started his sophomore year virtually and struggled with loneliness.

“Getting COVID made me feel bad because band camp was going on at the time and my section had to quarantine as a result; although, it made me feel better that none of them got it,” Renfrow said. “[Virtual school] made me miss being in a physical school and miss friends around me. I became a bit more social as a result.”

The pandemic has touched every part of Coggins’s life. As a teacher, she fears it has diminished any hope of students having a normal high school experience. Granted with the extra time on her hands during quarantine, she found a new hobby.

“I feel that so much has been affected, including the students in our school. This stresses me out because I feel that remote learning took away so much valuable time from them,” Coggins said. “On the positive side, I got into jigsaw puzzles. Putting them together seems to calm me somehow.”

Glassman was lonely when she first started quarantining because she was home alone and had to stay in her room. After she started feeling better, she spent her time off with her family.

“I felt alone and left out because I saw all of my friends hanging out on social media and I missed going to school,” Glassman said. “Not only that but my parents were at work and my younger brother was at school. Once I was getting better, my stepdad was feeling sick so I saw him more.”

Thanks to the pandemic, Coggins lost the luxury of spending extra intentional time with her dad. To be responsible during the pandemic, they only held a family service of fewer than 10 people for the funeral.

“I lost my Dad. It is a club that you do not want to ever be in. It hurts. I miss him constantly,” Coggins said. “Dad would have loved a crowd. Everyone that met him liked him. He was a giving, kindhearted and hardworking man. It makes me mad to see how cavalier some people are about this virus. It is nothing to ignore.”

It is frustrating for Coggins to have experienced loss due to COVID while others recovered quickly without a second thought. For Renfrow, masks are seemingly ineffective as a mode of prevention, especially in the school setting.

“The vaccine is a better solution for school systems,” Renfrow said. “Masks are just annoying and many people wear them improperly as a result, especially in high school, which makes them useless. Social distancing can help but it hurts the experience of school.”

News reports have started that if people would wear their masks properly, they would not be rendered useless. Glassman was cautious before she got COVID, and after getting it, that had not changed. She grew more cautious in hopes to protect her family and herself from contracting it again.

“I am still wearing my mask, social distancing, washing my hands, and taking the precautions needed,” Glassman said. “I think Covid is still very real and people need to continue to do their best at protecting themselves and the people around them.”

People who directly felt the impact of COVID feel that every precaution should be taken seriously. Coggins wishes people would be more considerate and stay safe to keep others safe, especially those at high risk.

“Losing my Dad to this pandemic causes me to feel anger. I’m angry that this entire virus was not taken seriously in the early stages,” Coggins said. “Why my Dad? He would have been vaccinated immediately if the vaccine had been available. That’s why seeing all the opposition to vaccines and masks makes me angry at times.”

Coggins has seen ignorance and negligence end lives. According to news reports, the number of COVID deaths spiral with 600,000 plus people falling victim to the contagious killer. That is the Bryant Denny Stadium filled to capacity six times. Her personal experience may be more traumatic than others, but it is just as real. She holds a strong stance regarding COVID precautions.

“I am pro-masks and pro-vaccine. We need to do all we can to combat this virus and get out of this pandemic,” Coggins said. “Do I like wearing a mask? No, but it is my duty to others to follow the guidelines our medical experts have outlined for us. A mask is a better alternative than being intubated in the hospital. Needles are not my favorite, but two sticks for the vaccine are better than hundreds of needles one gets while being treated in a hospital. I also know that we must continue on with life. We can’t just stop, so we need to take these precautions.”

Delta is here and it looks like it could stick around for a while. With the rise of new variants, it seems every week the fight against COVID grows harder every day. 

The push for vaccines has been pushed by all the major news networks, politicians and everyone in between. Only 57 % of the total U.S. population is vaccinated; while these numbers are rising steadily it is not increasing at the rates they should. The vaccine curve is flattening out when it should be going up much faster than it should. The thing is it is not rising as it should and this is due to the level of vaccine misinformation and vaccine hesitancy that has spread and gripped the minds of many Americans. The government has not yet mandated the vaccines for COVID yet but if the numbers do not continue to rise as they should and with the FDA recently approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this reality of the government mandating the vaccine could be a real reality.  

Getting the vaccine is a crucial key to ending this pandemic and getting us back to the true “Normal”. Many complain that there are more ways to help end COVID through Antibody testing and things of that nature, and while those studies should still be looked at and researched more the vaccines are something we have run that are ready and available to us all right now. The more time we sit around and wait for new studies and research for other non-vaccine alternatives, the more Americans continue to die and get sick, and it will continue unless we all stop playing politics with science and health. If we continue to go down this road our death and sickness tolls will continue to rise. It is our duty as Americans to do the right thing for our country and get the vaccines. Even though this should be our duty as Americans there are still a large majority of vaccine skeptics out there. 

There are many reasons why you should get the vaccine, not only is it safe but it is also effective at protecting you and others from COVID. Now the vaccine does not stop you from getting COVID but it can lessen your symptoms and shorten the time at which you have the disease. Getting the vaccine helps all of us in some way, that is why it is a key and important part of getting the U.S. back to our normal life pre- COVID. Even though we will probably never achieve what we want we can try and get it as close to what we once knew. 

This vaccine should not be a political thing, it should be an issue of keeping the nation safe during this tumultuous time that we live in. If more of us get the vaccine the quicker we will get back to a more normal life. So getting the vaccine is beneficial to all of us and to yourself, to keep us safe and to make the country better.

As millions of vaccines are being given out and the amount of vaccinated people is increasing by the day, it is important to be aware of how COVID vaccines actually work and how they can effectively prevent you, your friends and your family from getting COVID. 

I’ve already gotten COVID, I don’t need to be vaccinated.

If you have already gotten COVID and have recovered from it, your body does produce antibodies that can help with the prevention of getting COVID again. However, there is always the possibility that you could get COVID again, which is why it is always safer to get a vaccine that is guaranteed to help prevent another sickness. 

I’m already vaccinated, so I shouldn’t have to wear a mask.

Being vaccinated doesn’t mean that you don’t have to wear your mask anymore. Despite most stores in Alabama allowing vaccinated people to enter without enforcing a mask, masking up still helps to protect you from any bacteria that can cause the COVID sickness to appear again. And if you’re not vaccinated and don’t wear your mask, put it on. Seriously.

The COVID vaccine will give me COVID, right?

A common myth that has been quickly debunked. COVID vaccines cannot and will not give you COVID. The vaccines help our immune systems to protect us against the bacteria that can cause COVID. The common symptoms after getting vaccinated can only last up to a few days.

The government is implanting microchips in those vaccines!

If microscopic chips were to be implanted in our skin through the vaccine, it would be obvious to assume that you would feel it in your skin. A needle as small as the ones the vaccines are given through simply don’t allow much (if at all) space to physically place a chip and insert it into your arm. Also, isn’t this illegal?

Many concerns about getting vaccinated are evident in many Americans not only in Alabama but worldwide as well. This is a new vaccine and it is okay to be cautious, but as Americans, we must also be aware that this is the only way we can get our lives back to normal and safely enjoy those after-school activities that we love. Encourage as many people as you can to get vaccinated and stay safe.