Mask-up culture will forever change the way our generation views illness, A new fear of the invisible sparked by a year unlike any other in recent memory begs the question… when will we feel safe again?
According to the CDC, over the past 6 weeks there has been a 73 percent decline in reported cases. This may have to do with the increasing rapidity of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, among others, that are being distributed across the nation.
Still, some public figures are hesitant to take it. Like Joe Rogan, who hosts a popular podcast on Spotify. Rogan said, “I would [take the vaccine] if I felt like I needed it.”
Rogan may have a controversial opinion compared to the manywell-known political figures and celebrities that have been speaking positively about the vaccine, but when talking to everyday people in the Langhorne-Levittown, most share a similar sentiment to Rogan.
Some locals shared a similar skepticism when it came to trusting the vaccine and the government. With the vaccines being created and distributed rather quickly, some people fear the long-term effects of the vaccine, since the virus has only been around for over a year.
We live in a weird world of known-unknowns today that is even more “unprecedented” than this virus. It is known that the government can track a phone without the permission of its user and it is always unknown if you are being tracked.
This mistrust of the vaccine isn’t something new but something that’s been fostered over years of abuse of power on the part of the government. In a world where you can’t trust everything you read on the internet, why should we trust this vaccine?
This is a scary realization considering that Dr. Fauci estimated that 75-80 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated to return to some sense of normality. How long will that be?
One pro-vaccine local, Anthony Tamanini, 18, will get the vaccine if it means life returning back to normal sooner, “I understand the fear and it seems reasonable to me, but I’m tired of living like this.”
When asked about when he would feel safe without wearing a mask, he said, “About another
year, maybe. I want the majority of people to get one before I can feel safe without a mask.” This echoes the opinions of doctors across the U.S. as well.
When will it be safe to return to normal life again? The most realistic answer is: who knows. With the rate of new infections spiraling downwards, there might just be a light at the end of the tunnel.