The COVID-19 pandemic has been stressful for me. I work from home now and I really miss my colleagues at New Journey Housing. As part of my job as a Housing Advisor I teach a rental workshop where I talk about rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords. I also teach home purchasing workshops where I talk about mortgages and money management. I normally lead these workshops for newcomers in person but because of COVID, the workshops now take place on Zoom. I also can’t meet clients at our office, so when my clients need to sign an application I meet them outside.
I can’t wait until we can meet people in person and hug each other, share a meal together, talk, and socialize. Normally I meet others for group prayer on Saturdays. I miss it–we really feel very happy when we pray together. Now we meet through the phone, but it’s not the same. When we sing, the voices come in one by one, or they don’t come at all. It’s boring to stay home all the time. I can’t meet my friends and I miss them. And when I go grocery shopping, I’m afraid of catching COVID in the store.
I hope one day we’ll hear that the province’s COVID numbers are very low. Every day now the numbers are so high, people are dying, people are suffering. COVID has jeopardized so many things. So many people lost their jobs, so many businesses closed. For people coming to Canada from the U.S., Europe or Africa, the hotel quarantine costs a lot of money.
Some people are worried about the vaccine and some people are getting inaccurate information from online sources. I was vaccinated at a pharmacy near where I live in Winnipeg. The needle was like any other needle and I really didn’t feel anything. They told me to sit down and wait for 15 minutes after the injection to see if my body would have a reaction. My body didn’t react to the vaccine, so they told me, okay, bye, go home! I had no side effects! For those who are scared of being immunized, I want to say don’t be scared at all. But I know that even if you are afraid, you should try to find the courage to be immunized. I trust in the vaccinations, I got one myself, and I know that getting vaccinated is the only way we will all be able to get back to normal.
I’m protecting myself and others by being vaccinated. If all of us are vaccinated, it makes a big difference for everyone because it reduces the spread of COVID. I really would like to encourage each of you to get the vaccine which will boost your immune system. We will be strong together if we all take the vaccine.
