An Omicron Christmas

Christmas is in hindsight this year | Photo by Jack B on Unsplash

I am writing to you from my childhood bedroom, safe from the snow and wind. But what I was not safe from coming home was catching COVID-19.

I am among the thousands of people in Vancouver and Richmond that have unfortunately found themselves in the middle of this wave of the new omicron variant, so as a result, my Christmas Eve was spent practically paralyzed to my bed, shivering and barely able to speak.

My positive COVID-19 test

Christmas Day came and passed with little fanfare as many students coming home (especially in Vancouver) have found. Thanks to being double vaccinated, though, my symptoms have gone within a few days and I’m on my way to being okay by New Year’s!

It’s easy for me to be sad about having to forgo the Christmas traditions that I was very much looking forward to, but having COVID on Christmas made me really appreciative of the hard work of those who have been helping us understand and fight the pandemic since we first started, the scientists and researchers, doctors and nurses and all those whose jobs don’t take a break on Christmas Day. Thanks to innovations from these professionals, I’ll be able to start classes on January 10th feeling refreshed and ready for the new year!

Happy Holidays and see you in January!