This week, TX announced that starting Monday, March 15th, it would be moving into Phase 1C of the COVID vaccine rollout, which means that all adults age 50-64 are now eligible to receive the vaccine, in addition to those in Phase 1A and 1B. Hooray!
Photo from dshs.tx.gov
I am 49, and I’m already fully vaccinated (Moderna), because I fell under Phase 1B for underlying health conditions due to the immuno-suppressant medication I’m on for my shoulder. But my husband actually just turned 50 in January, so he now qualifies under 1C. He actually registered in December like I did, just to make sure he’d already be on the list whenever he qualified to receive the vaccine, and he was notified on Friday that he is scheduled for the first day of this phase on Monday. Yippee! I’m so glad. So by the end of April, his vaccinations should reach peak efficacy 2 weeks after receiving his second dose. Then maybe we can start to get out a little more together!
Photo from CityofIrving.org
We still have not returned to in-person church for the last year. We’ve only attended via Zoom. I was most at risk until I was fully vaccinated, and we still need my husband to stay healthy, as he is the sole family provider. Now, we also know that our 16-year old daughter has some form of asthma. She is using an inhaler in the interim while she awaits pulmonary function testing at the end of the week. Her doctor says it’s likely either intermittent mild asthma or exercise-induced asthma. This puts her at greater risk, as well, and she has a history of not doing well with viruses, spiking extremely high fevers that land her in emergency care. So after we receive a definitive diagnosis, she should also qualify to receive the COVID vaccine. Pediatric COVID vaccines are hard to come by, though. Our pediatrician’s office says those age 16+ with an underlying health condition qualify for the Moderna vaccine only, but they only have a limited number of doses available, so you have to get on a waiting list. Sigh. I can’t sign her up until we have a diagnosis. This pulmonary function test may only be the beginning of testing, as her problem is intermittent and usually spurred by participation in sports. I was told the stress test pulmonary function test can only be ordered after a regular PFT has been done and a visit with a pediatric pulmonologist has been completed. So this could take a while. Between school and her job, it’s hard to fit in appointments. We’re doing her appointments this next week during her spring break. The children’s hospital requires her to go for a drive-thru COVID test on Tuesday and then her pulmonology test on Friday.
So we are still playing it safe. Even though the governor lifted the mask mandate last week for TX, we still continue to wear ours, to socially distance, and to avoid crowded events. I long to return to some sort of normalcy. June will be 4 years since we moved here, and I still have no local friends. I have no opportunity to get out any more. I miss the symphony. I skipped the whole last season because of COVID. I have no outings or events to look forward to. At least the weather is beginning to warm up, so I can at least enjoy being outside again. I really hope conditions continue to improve this year, but they say a 4th wave is on the horizon from the new variants that are more contagious with a public that is relaxing its mitigation practices and is still largely unvaccinated. Ugh.
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