We asked how you're feeling about Covid these days. This is what you told us

There's a meme going around: "Omicron means parents are doing it all again. Except this time dead inside." Oh, how that resonated, even for those without kids. We asked how you're feeling at this moment, as Omicron barrels toward its peak, 2.5 years into this pandemic. This is what you said.

"M

y husband and I had our daughter in April 2022. To protect her we have had a strict approach to Covid throughout the pandemic. We are vaccinated (and boosted!), we are staunch mask wearers and are very particular about where we go with our unmasked/unvaccinated daughter.

We have missed so many occasions, opportunities to travel and family events. Last week my husband was exposed at work and we all fell ill and tested positive within days of that exposure. We are all really struggling through it, it’s not ‘mild’ for any of us, and emotionally we are wrecked. The boogie man got in, despite taking every reasonable precaution.

I’ve kept myself up at night reading articles, looking for information that could help or just make me feel better. I am resentful at the repeated suggestion that the ‘vaccinated’ got complacent and opened ourselves up to the exposure, like it was negligence. We did everything ‘right’ and we still got sick. I don’t see any hands reaching out to offer help. It’s so hard not to be angry all of the time.

—Kayla Gordon via email

I am triple vaxed so I’m not overly worried about getting it. I just flew out of state for the holidays and wore N95 masks. If I do get it I am betting it will be a mild case.

—Mary Rose via Facebook

The Pandemic is over for the vaccinated and those exposed who have overcome the illness. … It is clear the "vaccine" is not working to stop the infections, the spread, the contracting of the virus, or otherwise doing much to stop the virus from doing what they do….

I only wear a cloth mask to go along to get along and not to stop any infection from getting me. I'm fully vaccinated and boosted.

Everything else done is simply theater, and as the Good Doctor said, "Face Decoration."

—Karl Derrick via Facebook

"A

s someone who is marked "at risk" (asthma, suppressed immune system as a result of asthma meds) I'm once again buttoned up in my Fortress of Crushing Solitude. At least that's what it feels like - crushing solitude. The reality is that there are friends and family I can connect with on a small scale, but until we move away from Unchecked Community Spread there won't be any in person meetups.

I'm fully vaccinated and boosted. I received two shots of the Pfizer, and was fortunate enough to be boosted with Moderna. However, this is not the shield that it once was. With their efficacy against omicron eroding over time, the only sure defense against infection is isolation and quarantine. If I want to be a part of the solution to this pandemic then I must do my part to stop the spread. Sadly, that means further personal sacrifice.

One unexpected casualty of the pandemic is my empathy. Two years ago, I could understand vaccine hesitancy, and, as long as the uninoculated maintained other safety precautions, could even find some common ground. No longer. Now every cry of "personal freedom" sounds like a callous acceptance of death and misery. They have kept me locked in my house, deprived of human contact, while the rest of the nation (and indeed the world) withers and dies.

How can I find common ground with people who are simultaneously a real and existential threat to myself and my family? Do they not see that, in addition to endangering others, they threaten the very freedoms they profess to defend?

I realize I'm painting with a broad brush, and that some have genuine fears. The Black community, for example, has the most reasonable cause for concern, given their history with healthcare in the U.S. My anger is directed primarily at the privileged and the ignorant.

I am fatigued, frustrated, and ready for this to be over. Yet the end isn't in sight, and as long as governments continue to prioritize economies over people, and individual preference over common good, it will forever be out of reach.

—Sean Sanford via email

I'm at the point where we just let omicron wash over us and be done with it. Looks like that is what will happen if we want it or not.

—Ryan Desimone via Facebook

Americans are selfish and stupid. I am so tired of people not understanding science, not caring, being greedy, etc. It didn’t have to be this way.

—Kiki Christensen via Facebook

"I

'm writing this the night before I get my PCR test, as I'm almost certain I have gotten COVID. At the moment, symptoms are pretty mild (raspy cough, mild sore throat) and I have two friends I was with on New Years that have tested positive.

I'm vaxxed and boosted, and I do feel it is now a matter of "when" not "if'' you contract it.

With that said, I feel like how healthy you are, is very much going to affect how sick you get. What has irked me from the start is that there has been little to no advice from public health officials on how to lead a healthy lifestyle. "Wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, get the vaccination" does not equate "healthy" to me, it equates, "how to not get sick," which are two very different things. "Stop eating junky processed food, get fresh air, get exercise," could benefit so many people, but it's a narrative that I have not seen uttered once.

Yes, I attribute my (at the moment and hopefully not getting worse) mild symptoms to being vaccinated, but also in large part to the fact I lead a healthy lifestyle.

—Jake S. via email

Editor’s note: Jake updated us on Wednesday evening: “The tests (both a rapid and PCR) came back positive. I had symptoms for about three days, and thankfully did not worsen beyond what I mentioned in my previous email. Six days after onset (this past Sunday) I was completely symptom-free and have been feeling fine all week.”

I’m feeling that most people will catch it but the vaccinated will get through it without being hospitalized. But it is wrong to assume you won’t be very sick though. My daughter, young, fully vaccinated/boosted/strict mask wearer caught it and was very, very sick with high fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

—Cindy Suzumura via Facebook

I'm feeling safe for the most part, but I worry about my unvaccinated 3 year old and 15 month old. We had a possible exposure before the holidays, and I was wrought with worry as my toddler was the only one unmasked. Thankfully we all tested negative. I'm preparing for more of these feelings until my children can be vaccinated.

—Debbie McCormick via Facebook

It’s turning endemic. I’ve accepted that we’re all going to get it at some point. I’m counting on our vaccinations to keep us safe. We can’t live like hermits forever. Let’s just get on with life.

(We do not have elderly or immunocompromised people in our family or close community circles. If we did, my feelings would be quite different. We would still be wearing the KN95s we’ve worn the last 2 years.)

—Amie via Facebook

Everyone is going to get COVID. It’s going to be like the flu, endemic. Not getting it is an unreasonable goal, unless you plan to be an off-grid hermit from here on out.

The stigma of getting it needs to go away. We just need to get the young kids vaccinated. I am triple vaxed and know when I get sick, I’ll be okay.

We are really tired of the fear and stress of all of this. Ready to get on with our lives.

—Emily Thousand via Facebook

I’m a RN working on a busy med-surg Covid floor. I’m grateful that my hospital has ample PPE and structured Covid protocols that help mitigate the exposure risk. Also grateful to folks who are doing all the things we know to be helpful: vaccination, booster shots, masking, hand washing, and social distancing. When you do those things, you help us healthcare workers.

—Nadia Kay via Facebook

I'm not ready to give in to Covid yet! I have not been sick, am vaxed and boosted, and really hate how everyone seems to have gone full "chicken pox party" right now with people hoping to just get it over with. I don't want to get it over with, I want to not get Covid. I have immunocompromised people I am close to, and would feel terrible if I was the one to make them sick, or anyone else for that matter.

Although I feel it weighing on me more and more, as everyone around me seems to be getting it. I feel closer to giving up, but I'm also a very stubborn person.

—Jesse via email

I'm fed up with people not masking.

It's not difficult.

Wear a mask.

—Kathleen Jones Ponto via Facebook

We need field hospitals for vaccine refusers, which will expand hospital capacity so those who choose to protect ourselves can get back to normal if we choose to do so. COVID is here to stay, and it's time to live life again.

—Erik Nilson via Facebook

I want natural immunity to be accepted in lieu of vaccination.

—Andrea Michelle via Facebook

At one point I thought that immunity gained through exposure should count, but there have been too many studies that show it's inadequate. We're also starting to see people who have damage from their first exposure die from their second. So I've changed my thinking.

As far as "natural" immunity simply because someone hasn't caught it yet, there's no test for it and no proof it exists.

The most tested and most proven to be effective thing is still the vaccine.

—Michaelanne Landy via Facebook