As we approach the end of 2021, and into a new Year, I cannot help but feel an undercurrent sense of anxiety.
While I’m not trying to sound like The Grinch I can recall the excitement and joy of New Year 2020 when we began a new decade.
We were both heavily tipped on Barcelona rooftops, Spain. I was watching fireworks. I recall feeling blissfully happy and filled with optimism for the next decade.
All of us know exactly what will happen next and, for that matter in the years to come.
You don’t have to hear me tell you about how much life has changed.
My 14-month-old daughter has me dreading the day she turns two years old. I don’t know how to keep a mask on my child for such a long time. It is difficult for her to wear a headband. It is not fair for her to be forced to wear one, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence and research that suggests she is safe from Covid. Massachusetts vaccinates a five-year old wearing a mask.
Covid spread and subsequent loss of optimism, safety, and overall excitement have been heavy burdens all of us carry around with us, regardless of who we are and what country we live in.
Last year when New Year’s came, I had just become a mother and was still trying to navigate taking care of a newborn and sheltering in place for our safety.
It was not yet possible to get the vaccine, so I was worried about what Covid-19 would do for a baby.
Fear of the flu forced my husband to go home alone for Christmas.
It was the Christmas season, and I still remember how it felt to be missing my family, as well as crying every morning while listening to Sia’s incredible Christmas song “Snowman” on repeat.
Reduce to today. It is only 10 days until Christmas and 16 days before New Year’s.
As we move closer to the 2020 pandemic, it is more comforting for me to see my fully-vaccinated relatives.
Kathy Hochul, New York Governor (pictured Tuesday), has enacted a new mandate for masks that requires workers to “mask at their desk” unless the venue has imposed a vaccination mandate. Some employers are forced to wear masks throughout the day because of this crazy mandate
That is until I go to Twitter.
Yesterday I came across an article and immediately sent it to my friends, who also are obsessed by the extreme Covid laws in major American cities.
New York University, Fordham University have updated their policies to require that all students and faculty be fully vaccinated.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a new mandate for workers that requires them to “mask at their desk” unless they have enacted vaccines. Some employers are forced to wear masks throughout the day because of this crazy mandate.
These new regulations are being enforced despite New York City boasting one of the lowest vaccination rates in America.
As of December 27th, all New York City workers, whether they are indoors or out, will have to receive at least one shot of vaccine. No options available to get tested for the requirements. If businesses are found not to be in compliance with this policy, they’ll be fined $1,000 per violation and more for repeat offenders.
Workers will need to get vaccinated before they can work. If not, then they could be fired. Workers are required to wear masks, no matter the place they work.
Compare this to our Tory friends in the UK, where the Conservative Tory Party rebelled against Boris Johnson’s Prime Minister for advocating vaccine passports for large crowds such as concerts and nightclubs. Imagine the reaction if Johnson tried to make workers get vaccinations in order to retain their jobs.
Before anyone has panic attacks, I must make it clear that I am vaccinated as well as my whole family. The vaccine is effective and I was excited to get the “jab” as it became known last spring.
So happy was I that I hugged and cried with the nurse who gave me the shot. I also took photos at the George Mason hospital’s’step and continue’ banner.
It felt exciting and like the dawn of the end of pandemic.
That sensation soon vanished.
Each season brings a different variant, and each variant calls for new boosters or extensions to the mandates.
The degree of rigidity within which you can live legally will depend on where you reside.
The media is in panic mode over Omicron, but Dr. Sanjay Gupta said this morning that it’seems to have less severe’ than previous variants. It is less transmissible but also more deadly.
Today, one Omicron variant has been confirmed to have caused the death of a person worldwide. But, that number is likely to increase. For some students from New York, however, the booster must be received. This is something that was previously only advised for those with immunocompromised or elderly.
But where does that leave us?
There is an entire segment of society that doesn’t mind being covered up forever. Children as young as 2 years old can live in a world that requires them to get booster shots every 6 months.
Other than that, you must live in Florida.
Although I’m aware of my potential expulsion from coastal elite cities, I don’t think it is fair to accept the idea that schoolchildren should wear masks every day.
My fourteen-month-old daughter is now two years old.
It is difficult for her to wear a headband. It is also not my wish that she lives in a world that requires her to use a headband despite the overwhelming scientific evidence and research that suggests she is safe from Covid.
I’m against any form of mandates for masks.
Worker vaccines are not something I support. Major cities of America should be living in an unimaginable hellscape with oppressive laws.
This is not only anti-science and illogical, but it also violates civil liberties.
It is certain that there are some Democratic legislators who would rather keep the pandemic going than help us get out.
This pandemic has seen a number of historic drug overdoses and depression, as well as loneliness, unemployment, poverty, and general cultural distress.
For Governor Kathy Hochul, my question is this: Why don’t you try to make life normal again instead of making Covid 2020 a stalemate?
My acquaintances are three individuals who have moved from New York City and California to Florida. As long as the New York Progressives keep their perpetual pandemic going, I do not see it ending any time soon.
It hurts my heart. New Yorkers have a right to expect better from junk science, extension of apocalyptic laws, Christmas, and New Year.