COMMENT: Moving forward one jab at a time

It feels great to know we're armed with what our health authorities assure us will help protect me from the ravages of COVID-19, in the extremely unlikely event we get the virus.

We know that most people who fall ill don't experience the worst of the coronavirus, but none of us knows for sure just how we might cope should the unthinkable occur.

But being fully vaccinated means the symptoms are likely to be far less severe.

More news: Pfizer vaccine rush was no 'one day avalanche': Bendigo Health

I felt a bit crook for a couple of days after my first vaccination, but it was explained to me this is a normal response and second time round should not result in anywhere near those sorts of responses.

This has proven true, and apart from an only mildly sore spot on my right arm, I'm fine.

And full credit to the crew at the Mollison Street centre who are so thorough and so professional about what they do all day, every day, seven days a week.

We might not realise it, but these unassuming heroes on scrubs are literally saving lives every day and helping us get closer to getting our way of life back on track to whatever it's going to look like in the future.

It feels a bit like once you get your second jab, you have to step off the playing field for the time being and watch from the grandstands while everyone else books in, lines up and ultimately gets two jabs in accordance with the health guidelines.

And once we get to whatever the magic figure is, we can hopefully release ourselves from some of the harsher restrictions that have been an unwelcome but necessary and constant companion for much of the past 17 months.

There's talk this past week that Victoria and new South Wales will remain largely cut off from other states until early December under a worst case scenario where other state jurisdictions maintain a hard line against our communities due to the prevalence of the virus in parts of Victoria.

There's not a lot we can do about that, except to keep doing whatever we can to stop the spread.

But rather than wallow in negativity and bemoan the fact we might not be able to travel to Western Australia or Queensland for the time being, for example, let's hope we can at least get our own house in order within Victoria to the extent that holidays intra-state become an option again soon.

Equally, we hope visitors might be able to return to Bendigo sometime soon when the spread of the virus is contained and regional Victoria can once again do what it does best.

It's another shot in the arm we all need.

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