If you have lived under a rock since the first lockdown (wherever you may be), the number of COVID cases is re-surging again due to some variants and some regulations getting eased up.

I am crossing the bridge towards this topic that many people are still arguing about. Some still think that COVID is just a figment of the imagination and that vaccines will alter something in your DNA. So many crazy ideas are sprouting everywhere, but one should look at what’s going on in India and other countries that are still going through such hardships to battle this virus and realize that this is alarmingly serious. Today is my own opinion only and not anybody else’s, and I want to share my experience when this virus almost got me.

More than a week ago, I had close contact with someone positive with Covid. She just came back from a vacation in Spain, and when we saw each other in the office the following week, the virus had caught up with her, and she had symptoms by the end of the day.

It was alarming, knowing that Covid almost got close. I only read this as something that happened to the people I know, but not to me. And I don’t want to make my family worried, especially since I live far from them. THAT IS THE ONLY REASON I’M TRYING TO BE CAREFUL BECAUSE I DON’T WANT THEM TO BE WORRIED. I am fully vaccinated, but I know that this will still not prevent me from contracting the virus. The vaccines will not make us exactly immune to it. However, it will protect us from the virus and prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. That is what I want right now because I know that this virus will not go away. But for us to achieve herd immunity, I believe that participating in the vaccination program will help lessen the burden of such a global problem we are having right now.

A week after the required quarantine, I took a PCR test, and the result came out negative. I didn’t have any symptoms, too. I feel well and fine. But I am still isolating myself from people until I reach the second week. I also reported my health issue to the office since this happened at work so that they will be confident to reactivate my badge again.

After this experience, I have witnessed how difficult it has been for the person I have encountered who had it. Aside from getting sick, she had to work on so many details like informing the health ministry that she contracted the virus and reporting the people she got in contact with, telling the infirmary at the office, etc. I never wanted to go through that hassle and stress, and these are some of the reasons I took the vaccine. The thought of compromising other people’s health is something that I don’t want to deal with. I hope she’s feeling much better now.

How am I going to end this post? I don’t know. I only want to share with you my experience that even when fully vaccinated, it is true that we still have to perform health advice such as wearing masks, washing of hands, and observing social distancing. Do not lose your sense of community and continue being responsible for yourself and other people. These are some of the ways that we can beat the shit out of this virus. I, like many of you out there, AM ALREADY TIRED OF THIS.