Relief

I can't tell you how much relief I feel knowing the first Covid-19 vaccine is making its way into bodies all over the U.S. today. Remember when President Nelson called for a worldwide Good Friday fast way back in April? I had no idea back then what lay ahead, but I decided to see God's hand in whatever relief would come. Just 8 months later (not 18 months, not 3 years), there are THREE very promising vaccines. Awe-inspiring. I'm just amazed. And so stinking relieved. 

It will take time to recover from this state of affairs, to be sure, and I don't expect church or school to settle into a "new normal" for another year, but what a gift! Hang in there. Let's keep wearing masks, social distancing, and washing our hands frequently. The vaccine will be able to save MANY more lives if there are fewer people already sick.

David Leonhardt of the New York Times wrote:

No vaccine can eliminate a pandemic immediately, just as no fire hose can put out a forest fire. While the vaccine is being distributed, the virus continues to do damage. “Bluntly stated, we’ll get out of this pandemic faster if we give the vaccine less work to do,” A. David Paltiel, one of the Health Affairs authors and a professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told me.

Relief is on the way.