It has been almost two years since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The protocols have changed frequently over the past two years. Between schools shutting down in 2020, the mask mandates, and the vaccines; Covid-19 has made people want a normal life again.

When schools shut down in 2020, the students didn’t know how bad it was going to be and how long school would have been shut down. When people tested positive for Covid they just stayed home, distanced themselves from others, and worried about how the disease would affect them. Since nobody actually liked quarantine because they couldn’t hang out with friends or have any big functions and they had to do virtual school. Virtual school was necessary, but most people didn’t like it at all.

When the world opened back up, there was a mask mandate everywhere, schools, restaurants, stores, outside, and public gathering spaces. Some people hated the mandate though it was necessary at first. Later into 2021, the mandate was lifted for most places. When school came back in session in August 2020, the mask mandate was that we could only take off our mask if we were 6 feet apart from someone and we were at our desk. Stores had a mask mandate for almost all of 2021. Stores like Walmart and others lifted the mandate but employees still had to wear masks. Most people never really liked the mandate but they still wore my mask when there was a mandate and when it became optional. When school started in August 2021, some schools had a mask mandate to start then it became optional. When the mask mandate became optional in my school a decent amount of people still wore it for a couple weeks, then they stopped wearing it.

Over the course of the pandemic vaccines have been created which have helped lessen the spread of Covid-19. Vaccines are a good thing, yes but some people don’t find it necessary to get it if you haven’t gotten sick. The vaccine started to be given to people the age of 60+. It was important for older adults to get the vaccine first, then teens and younger adults. After a while kids the ages between 12-16 could get the vaccine. A lot of teens got the vaccine either because they wanted to or their parents wanted them to. Towards the middle to end of 2021 children 5+ could get the vaccine. I find it normal for teens and adults to get the vaccine but children 5 and under are too young and should not be eligible to get the vaccine. There were a lot of places where you could get the vaccine. Vaccine sites started to grow a lot since more people were getting the vaccine.

In conclusion, COVID-19 has affected the world in many ways. When the world got shut down people got bored. The mask mandate made people not want to go out or wear one because they couldn’t breathe. At first, a lot of people didn’t want the vaccine because of what the media was saying but still ended up getting it. So many people have their own opinions on the global shutdown, the mask mandate, and the vaccines.