Coping LEISURE 27
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Congratulations if you’re lucky enough to
be among the 1 in 10 Americans who’ve
already been vaccinated for Covid-19,
said Sandee LaMotte in CNN.com. But
also sorry—because “there is no immu-
nity passport yet.” One of the hard truths
that people are learning about vaccines
is that their effectiveness in reducing risk
doesn’t take full effect until most other
people are immunized as well, which
means taking safety precautions will
remain necessary for “a good, long time.”
Granted, it’s “probably pretty safe” for
anyone who’s been vaccinated to start
seeing family and friends who’ve also
received their two shots and waited the two or three weeks for
full immunity to kick in. But “think of a face mask as your best
friend,” because for now, even a vaccinated person still faces sig-
nificant risks and poses risks to others.As you look at the year ahead, “the best way to set realistic
expectations is to think of it in three stages,” said Sigal Samuel
in Vox.com. During Stage 1—when your close friends and family
are vaccinated—you could, say, rent a cabin and spend a week
together without masks or social distancing, provided you don’t
interact with the public. But even that would put you person-
ally at risk, and not just because Covid-19 variants have begun
spreading. No vaccine is 100 percent effective against Coviditself, and though in most cases vac-
cination prevents severe illness, “experts
can’t rule out the possibility that you’ll
develop milder symptoms, which could
conceivably turn chronic.” Stage 2 will
arrive once your city or state has reached
herd immunity, ushering in safe returns
to places like movie theaters and indoor
restaurants. If the vaccination rollout
goes smoothly, that stage could be here
by mid-fall. Stage 3, when global herd
immunity will make it safe to travel
internationally, probably won’t arrive
until 2022 or later.Until clear guidelines are issued, people who’ve been immunized
will have to make their own risk calculations, said Erin Allday in
the San Francisco Chronicle. “Like yes, you can see your grand-
children,” says epidemiologist George Lemp. “But what if your
daughter has an underlying condition and is at risk?” One con-
cern of experts is that immunized people may still be able to con-
tract Covid-19 and spread it while showing no symptoms. But
experts also generally encourage people who’ve received their
shots to start returning cautiously to normalcy. Robert Wachter,
chief of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco,
says he recently received his first professional haircut in a year
and enjoyed the mild freedom of it. “I think there will be a lot of
that,” he says, “just dialing down the level of anxiety.”After the jab: Vaccinated Americans wonder, ‘What now?’
How to power nap
“Nap time is the new coffee break,” said
Galadriel Watson in The Washington Post. For
many of us working at home during the pan-
demic, a shot of shut-eye has become “an es-
sential afternoon pick-me-up,” and “study after
study” has shown that naps boost productivity.
To nap effectively, set an alarm for 20 minutes,
which is long enough for you to reach Stage 2
sleep but short enough to prevent your waking
up groggy. A NASA study showed that pilots
are more alert after sleeping just 10 to 20 min-
utes. If you need help regaining alertness after
the alarm goes off, try stepping into bright light
or splashing your face with water.Helping seniors get the vaccine
“Getting an appointment for a Covid-19
vaccine requires persistence, luck, and above-
average computer skills,” said Alyson Krueger
in The New York Times. With many older
Americans struggling to sign up, strangers are
setting a great example by stepping in to help.
Harriet Diamantidis of Merrick, N.Y., decided
after helping her mother and grandmother se-
cure appointments to post an offer of help on
a neighborhood Facebook page. Her husband
pitched in when requests started piling up.
“We lost count of how many appointmentswe made after 300,” she said. Two Kentucky
teenagers, Amelie Beck and Jacqueline Teague,
have set up a phone line to field requests from
across their state, and between classwork they
work full time to keep up. Seniors have to
trust any volunteer with personal information,
so schools, churches, and town offices are
good places to look for efforts worth joining.The return of D&D
Covid may yet make wizards and rogues of
us all, said Sarah Parvini in the Los Angeles
Times. Dungeons & Dragons, the tabletop
role-playing game that became an emblem of
nerd culture in the 1980s, has experienced a
surge in interest as people around the world
seek camaraderie and escape while distancing.
Even after several years of growth in player
interest, online play rose 86 percent in 2020,
with many players turning to platforms such
as Roll20.net and DNDBeyond.com. D&D
brings together groups of adventurers who
work together to navigate heroic quests, each
one a unique story plotted by a designated
“dungeon master.” Matthew Mercer, dun-
geon master on the popular D&D web series
Critical Role, testifies to the social and psycho-
logical benefits of the game. “It’s such a won-
derful tool to learn about yourself,” he says.Distancing season: Making the most of it
“Winter hikes can be a hard sell to
kids,” said Diane Bair and Pamela
Wright in The Boston Globe. “But
call it ‘animal tracking’ and you’ve
added a fun, scavenger-hunt ele-
ment to the activity.” If there’s
snow or mud on the ground, you
won’t have to go far to find tracks
from deer, rabbits, foxes, rac-
coons, mice, squirrels, coyotes, or
maybe even bears. Look for other
signs such as scat, fur, nutshells,
or chewed twigs. “The prime time
to look for tracks is in the morn-
ing just after sunrise,” and “the
best places are where two habitats
meet up, like the space between
a backyard and a woodland, or a
river next to a playing field.”And if you’re bored...
New life: Time to plan for better days