Today, we continue our new series on the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Over the next several weeks, you’ll hear from your neighbors, faith leaders and those in the business community, among others. They’ll share their personal stories – all of them with a simple and heartfelt message: Get vaccinated. Save Lives.
I still remember the early days of the pandemic when all we hoped for was a vaccine. Could it be possible within 6 months? A year? I worried that my husband and I would get COVID before the vaccine was available. On the day we became eligible, I spent hours securing appointments. It wasn’t nearly as much fun as booking Fast Passes at Disney World, but the excitement was overwhelming.
I’m vaccinated because I have two little kids who need a mommy. I can’t bear the thought of them losing me to COVID. So many times, I’ve heard that the virus doesn’t affect young children in a big way. Losing a parent is arguably the biggest way that they could be affected. Getting vaccinated protected my children’s mom, and it also protected other children’s moms and dads.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
I love knowing that I was able to make the world safer for all the families I know and love. When I pass a young child in the grocery store, I know that I am not a threat to them or their parents. When my daughter hears about positive COVID cases, she no longer worries that I’ll be next. Giving her that peace of mind is a privilege that I don’t take for granted.
When I was little, I loved taking naps across the backseat of our car or sitting on the floorboard and eating cereal off the front passenger seat as a table. Now, we know to always wear seatbelts and buckle our kids into car seats. When we know better, we should do better. The COVID vaccine is working and saving lives.
It’s time for everyone to do better. Protect yourselves. People love you and don’t want to lose you. It’s time to put the pandemic behind us, once and for all.
Shara Horne is a community contributor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Johns Creek, with her husband Chris and her two children, Alaya, 10, and Killian, 3. She describes herself as the “biggest baby about needles and shots,” so, as she says, “If I can do it, anyone can.”
