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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

<strong> I'm on the list to get the vaccine. I found out yesterday</strong> that CMU is putting its EMTs on the list of their healthcare workers. We could be receiving our first doses a month from now. It's a lot to think about. <strong> I assumed I'd be getting the vaccine as a healthy young adult (at the very end of the priority list). So I haven't been paying the closest attention to the rollout of the vaccine distribution program.</strong> Nobody really knows how long it's going to take to get to the general population, but it'll definitely be months at the very least<strong>. But now I might be looking at weeks instead of months or even closer to a year like most of my friends.</strong> <strong> I don't think my life will change that much after I get the vaccine.</strong> COVID safety measures will be in place for months if not indefinitely, and I plan to keep wearing a mask and limiting my exposure to others as much as possible. But<strong> it's kind of strange to think that most of my friends won't be getting their vaccines until months after me. I haven't told any of them. Would that seem like bragging? I don't know the etiquette for this.</strong> COVID has infiltrated so much of my social life that I sometimes don't know what to talk about other than the pandemic and Zoom and social distancing and the vaccine. <strong> But it is a relief,</strong> to know that I'll be getting the vaccine soon. I'm careful. I wash my hands and wear a mask and follow social distancing measures.<strong> But there's still a fear. We ordered food from Tarim a few weeks ago, and the rice that is usually very flavorful tasted bland to me. That was scary.</strong>Then there was the period I had a coughing fit every night (I think my room was dusty). That worried me, too. Near the end of the semester, my temperature started trending from the 97-98 range to the 99s for a few days, and I wondered if I could be starting to get a fever.<strong> It wasn't always like this. I didn't think about these things so much before the pandemic.</strong> Even with the vaccine offering an additional level of protection, I think there will always be some anxiety. We all want to think that we're that one-in-a-million, whether it's lottery tickets or COVID-19. I think that sometimes I just need to remind myself that I'm not special. What's probably going to happen is the statistically most likely option, which is that I get both doses of the vaccine, maybe a little bit of soreness or fever, then I develop antibodies and never get COVID. But I worry anyway. And then there's the<strong> part of me</strong> that<strong> feels like I could be taking a vaccine away from someone who needs it more. If I don't get my vaccines now,</strong> and instead wait in line until my turn as a healthy adult comes up (which is almost certainly spring or later),<strong> maybe another essential worker or a nursing home resident, or a prison inmate will live.</strong> Someone who isn't able to take as many social distancing measures as I am, and who is going to get exposed to the virus in the next few months.<strong> I know I can't measure my life in terms of the butterfly effect;</strong> otherwise, I could never do anything. I can't guarantee what will happen if I do or don't take the vaccine, and<strong> taking it is the best thing I can do to keep myself and the people around me safe.</strong>