While it feels like a long time coming, the reality is that the development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines has come at a remarkable speed and it appears that very soon, vaccinations will begin in this country, as they already have in Britain and elsewhere. And while there remain enormous challenges over the distribution and acceptance of the vaccine in the US, very likely frontline health workers and long term care residents will become vaccinated within the next couple of months. If you don’t fall into one of those categories, your wait for the vaccine may be a bit longer. To find out where you stand (literally) on the vaccine line, take a ticket and click here.

The challenge thus remains for most of us to stay safe and uninfected during these next few months before we get vaccinated, as the surge in infections and hospitalizations continues around the country. There have been one million COVID cases diagnosed just within the last few weeks, with increasing infections corresponding to Thanksgiving travel and anticipated to continue with Christmas plans. As a reminder, 80% of COVID deaths in the US have been in people 65 years old and older. So there’s no getting around that older adults remain at significant risk and need to continue the advised regimen of masking, hand washing, and social distancing for the foreseeable future. Now is not the time to let up, despite your pandemic fatigue. In fact, new advice has recently come out warning seniors not to step inside supermarkets, as evidence mounts that such indoor spaces are the source of major infection spread.

In fact, indoor activity continues to be risky, even if you believe everyone you are with is uninfected. All it may take is for one asymptomatic person inside with you for 15 or 20 minutes to spread coronavirus to all around, even if you’re wearing a mask and are 6 feet apart. Experts at MIT have recently created a COVID-19 Indoor Safety Guideline website to allow you to customize your exposure scenario and better understand what your true risk of infection may be. So, wash your hands, mask up, and read more here. And if you’re planning on car travel, even if to an outdoor, socially-distanced holiday gathering, you should still take precautions in the car and know exactly how to keep the windows open and the seating apart. Find out more by clicking here. Finally, now may be the time to really learn to adapt to the cold, given that outdoor get-togethers are considered much less risky. Think that’s not possible? Well, check out this recent Wall Street Journal article that provides tips and tricks for learning to live in polar conditions.

So what happens if you take all the precautions yet still begin to feel sick? First, you need to understand the usual symptoms of COVID to determine whether you’ve actually become infected. One recent discovery to be aware of is that in older adults, it appears that delirium could be the initial COVID symptom that surfaces. Also, you may want to avail yourself of getting tested for coronavirus infection. While obtaining a PCR test remains the gold standard, you’re probably aware of the long lines and delayed results that are occurring in many parts of the country. What’s new are home-based test kits you can order to allow you to skip the lines, spit into a tube, and get results in a relatively short period of time. You can order one of the kits online through such manufacturers as Vault or through such big-box stores as Walmart. While it remains unclear whether insurance carriers will cover the costs, what this new option does provide is the opportunity to safely and regularly test yourself and your loved ones in the privacy of your own home. Finally, if you do test positive? Chances are you’ll have a mild or moderate case, or perhaps even stay asymptomatic. For info on how to manage your situation, isolate yourself as best as possible and read the advice of family physician Kristen Kendrick here.