Here’s the story of how I got Covid the second time. And what saved the day.
When Covid first appeared in the US in March of 2020, we didn’t expect a vaccine; usually it takes several years to develop one. But after the genetic sequence was released in January, with unprecedented international cooperation between governments, several variations achieved government approval, with the UK going ahead with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine December 2, the FDA approving emergency use in the US December 11 and widespread approval in the European Union by December 21. Eleven months for a vaccine; not bad!
I remember when they started releasing the vaccine to the public and how we had to stalk the reservations at the local Walgreens when a new batch of appointments came out. Our whole family breathed a sigh of relief when my 70-something parents got their shots.
Fast forward to 2023, living in England, when our oldest kid came out for a visit. The cold that developed in the hotel in Scotland turned out to be full-blown Covid back home by the Avon River. Both of us stumbled through the summer, slowly improving as we did puzzles and crafts and watched hours of soothing British television. As disease variants emerge, it’s common to get different symptoms than earlier infections, so this time I completely lost my sense of taste and smell.
Even after getting back to my usual state, the loss persisted. I just ate whatever my lovely husband put in front of me, trying to at least enjoy the textures of things. After four months with no real improvement, I’d given up expecting anything different and figured I just wasn’t going to taste things anymore.
Autumn brought a new round of flu and Covid vaccines. Last year, I’d been nauseous and feverish after the shot, and since Mike was out of town, I prepared myself soups and drinks before boarding the bus to the clinic. I felt nervous, picturing all the possible reaction scenarios, and after standing in line in a picturesque abbey-turned-school, took a deep breath and got my jab.
I expected the slight fever and muscle aches I felt the next day. What I didn’t expect was that, when I took a bite of fried egg and toast, it tasted like fried egg and toast. Tea and milk was delicious! It was like a switch had been flipped and I could suddenly taste and smell everything. It wasn’t gradual, just boom! a complete reversal of the virus’ effect. Of course, that day I bought some Tony’s chocolate to celebrate.
But the biggest thing to celebrate is that, through the hard work of scientists in many countries, we got a vaccine, and we continue to get vaccines tailored to the new variants. To me, the restoration of my taste and smell was a personal miracle; to our country and the world, vaccines being available literally gives millions the gift of their lives.
Vaccines work. I can taste and smell that to you today. And those who say otherwise are risking lives that aren’t their own.
