This didn’t originally appear at the posted time, it mistakenly wasn’t uploaded when I wrote it.

I don’t often write about COVID or politics on here. I use this blog to write about other things, and over the last year it has been nice to have an outlet to just not have to think about COVID for 30 minutes.

First shipment of COVID vaccine arriving in Canada

The first shipment of COVID vaccine arriving in Canada. Photo credit: @JustinTrudeau)

But today is an important day in Canada and a symbol of a remarkable scientific achievement. Today marks the arrival of the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNtech’s COVID to Canada for immediate distribution. For the past 10 months, life hasn’t been normal. I’ve missed out on work, because I valued providing options to my spouse and kids. My kids have missed out on sports, impacting their physical and social development. My family has missed out on social connection, making it really hard to feel close and connected to our friends and family.

It’s really hard to be close to people when you don’t know when or how you might be exposed to COVID, just because few (close to none? I hope..) people go around intentionally spreading COVID. And moreover, I don’t want to become infected unknowingly and become a vector for further viral spread.

I’m hopeful that this picture marks the beginning of the end for COVID. The end of social distancing. The end of missing out on social connections or vacations or what we would consider our “normal” life.

Until the actual end though, stay distant, stay safe, keep your mask on so that someone else doesn’t miss out on the rest of their life.

Take care of each other.