The Beginning of the End - My Husband’s Vaccine Story
I’ll never forget March 13, 2020. It was Elliot’s first shift assessing patients with presumed COVID. He was asked if he was interested in swabbing patients in the ER while on a Sports Medicine rotation. I was so proud of him for stepping into this new role as a frontline hero, but I was also incredibly scared. This was a novel coronavirus that at the time, we didn’t know much about. Elliot and I had only heard of this virus from the countless stories on the news and he had never seen it in real-life. All the what-ifs started to flood my brain – what if he got sick? What if I got sick? What would we do? Where we would isolate, and would we have to isolate away from each other? Not to mention, we live in a small condo downtown. All day I was mentally preparing for his arrival home. I had a game plan ready of how I would Lysol the doorknobs while he jumped right into the shower.
For the first few weeks, it was horribly exhausting, but we eventually got into a pandemic routine. In order to help cope with the loneliness, we interacted with family and friends virtually through countless Zooms, FaceTimes, and phone calls as we were not seeing family and friends in person. From the outset, we decided we would avoid seeing our immediate family and close friends. We chose not to be part of anyone’s “bubble”, and it has really been just Elliot and me this whole time. Since Elliot was working in a high-risk area and there was considerable vagueness in the term “bubble”, we felt that it would be best if it were just us two. This was a very tough decision as we’re both so close with our parents, grandparents, and siblings, but it was a price we were, and still are, willing to pay to ensure our family’s safety.
I was very inspired by the impact that Elliot was making, and it made me want to contribute in my own way. During the spring, I decided to start tie-dying and selling hoodies with 100% of all net proceeds going to the hospital where Elliot was working. After months of orders, I was able to donate $11,000 to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto to help fund COVID relief efforts. Around the time when I made my final sweater was when we heard the amazing news that the vaccine was approved for use in Canada.
On December 17th it finally felt like we were at the beginning of the end. Elliot was selected as one of the long-term care workers that would receive his first vaccine at 4:45pm. After nine long months, his first dose of lifesaving liquid was finally here. Tomorrow, January 7th, Elliot will receive his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and as historic as this will be, it still comes with a whole host of unknowns: Can Elliot still transmit the virus while being protected from getting sick himself? Will he be in the 95% that are protected, or would he be in the unlucky 5% that still get COVID, despite the vaccine? Will we need a booster each year if the virus mutates?
While Elliot will have completed his vaccine schedule as of tomorrow, we have made the decision to still hold off on seeing our family, for now. For one, I’m not yet vaccinated, and neither are the majority of people that we would interact with. Furthermore, with Elliot’s job as a physician, there is an even greater imperative to role model basic pandemic principles such as physical distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing.
Even with the vaccine here, there is still so much unknown going on in the world. However, the one thing that is known to me, is that my husband was, and forever will be, my healthcare hero.
Bio: Logan Lass is the Guest Engagement & Experience Consultant on the National Marketing team for McDonald’s Canada. In her role, Logan manages the McDelivery business working with delivery vendors like Uber Eats, Skip The Dishes, and Doordash. Her portfolio also includes the annual Monopoly promotion, leading the campaign from creative development to execution. She also supports all brand partnerships for McDonald’s. Logan is the liaison between the different agencies, vendors, and internal stakeholders at Mcdonald’s.
Logan has several years of experience at both creative and media agencies. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat, Logan uses it all in her personal and professional life. Logan is a self-proclaimed foodie who loves trying out new trendy restaurants.
Logan is married to Dr. Elliot Lass, a Care of the Elderly Fellow and Staff Physician at a COVID Assessment Centre.
By Logan Lass