With the eagerly anticipated approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine by the FDA, tensions regarding Covid-19 are continually spiking nationwide. Among the public, there are widespread fears concerning the effectiveness of the vaccine along with the possible side-effects it may reap.
According to the frequent incoming updates by various newspapers, including CBS News, the FDA approval is coming “rapidly” which would allow people to start receiving the first dose of the vaccine as early as Monday or Tuesday of the incoming week.
However, with new hope on the horizon, the need for vigilance is even more important. Within the last week, rising tensions here have reaffirmed the need for social distancing and masking in large public gatherings.
Over this last weekend and into Monday, local pentecostal congregation James River Church has come under heavy criticism for conducting their annual Christmas services. Although church officials confirmed that temperature checks and various forms of precautions were in place, photos of the event sparked outrage. In these photos, congregants are shown closely seated, many of the maskless. Although some families opted to socially-distance, the church’s negligence has been a highly charged issue.
Local Health Department Director, Clay Goddard, spoke out on the actions of the church. He is quoted in an article by the Springfield News-Leader.
“I can’t see those photos without also thinking of the images we’ve all seen of the impossible circumstances our hospitals are battling every day.”
The anger towards James River Church is merely one instance of the tensions that are rising at continual carelessness in our region. Despite the recent anger directed at church gatherings and sports events, people are continually going to bar and attending small-scale entertainment events, despite the clear risk that it poses.
We find ourselves at the beginning of the end with the near-approval of the Pfizer vaccine. Although it may be easy to fall into reckless behavior with the security of a possible cure quickly approaching, it is so important to remain vigilant.
This is the most deadly season of the pandemic to date. Students nationwide may find it easy to lapse into thoughtless and exposure-risking behaviors because of their ability to fend off the more serious side-effects of the virus. However, young people hold a unique responsibility to ensure that they are not asymptomatically spreading this deadly virus to people who do not have the same level of security health-wise. This responsibility weighs even heavier in what may be the last stretch of this tiresome pandemic and year.