Retired RN Alece Carrigan and her husband, Gary Milzarek, have been cautious since the Covid-19 pandemic started in March 2020.
“We have been very sheltered,” Carrigan said. “We didn’t even go eat outside at restaurants or shop inside of stores. Getting vaccinated recently was a huge step to getting ourselves out of this pandemic hole. Two weeks after my first vaccine shot, when I knew there was some antibody protection, I went to town to do things I usually do like going to the library and the bank. I did things carefully, but the hyper anxiety was gone.”
Because the virus is invisible and spreads in the air, she had been concerned about coming into contact with someone who was contagious—particularly because she was aware that some people aren’t being cautious and think Covid is a hoax. Carrigan has asked friends who subscribe to Covid conspiracy theories: “Do you not believe in polio, Spanish flu, measles, mumps?
“I have the choice of believing the science and history or believing in a bizarre global plot being put forth by ‘experts’ who seem flaky and out in the left field,” she said. “People who don’t think Covid is real have told me, ‘Stop living in fear.’ Believing the Covid is a global plot seems more fearful to me. That is worse than being concerned about exposure to Covid-19.
“I understand skepticism about pharmaceutical companies wanting to make big profits. A lot of us have skepticism about that. I have not taken the flu shot because of that. But Covid is much more contagious and dangerous than the flu. I have had relatives who caught Covid and ended up with permanent health problems. People who don’t believe in Covid must not know someone who has become seriously ill, had long-lasting Covid or has died.”
Carrigan and her husband are looking forward to what they are calling Vaccine Freedom Day. For them, the date six weeks from her second shot happens to be St. Patrick’s Day. They are going to Crystal Bridges and meeting friends outside for lunch.
“We’ve been doing a lot of research to see what can do with other vaccinated friends,” she said. “It looks like when we are fully vaccinated, we can have a friend who has been vaccinated inside our house without masks. It is the first step to normalcy and I’m really excited about that. The human connection—not being able to be close to friends and family—has been the biggest heartbreaker for me.”
Carrigan had no side effects from the vaccine and said it has done wonders to mitigate the feelings of helplessness and anxiety she has been experiencing in the past year.
“I don’t think we have known how much it has affected us until we saw a glimmer of the wave being lifted,” she said. “Most of us have felt so powerless. We couldn’t do anything but hunker down and try to be safe. It has been a hard year, and friends I have talked to feel the same way. I don’t know what the variants are going to do. It is still up in the air. But we have tentative plans to go visit family in Seattle later this year.”