Yes, You Can Get Covid Between Vaccine Doses

We could see the finish line — and then we hit a speed bump.

It’s hard to measure exactly when the pandemic started. Or rather, when it started to impact our daily lives, and when its grave potential began to hit home. But for me, as for many Americans, March 13, 2020 was the Last Normal Day. It was the last day my children went to in-person, normal school — unmasked! on the school bus! sitting in crowded classrooms and cafeterias!

So it was a little over a year later when, on April 7, 2021, my husband, my teenage daughter, and I all got our first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. And we each breathed sighs of relief, thinking that the future, and our post-pandemic freedom, were right around the corner.

It had been a long year. Our family had weathered the pandemic remarkably well, all told. We were fortunate to be able to work from home, to be able to socially distance. Like everyone, we established new routines, new rhythms to our day-to-day existence.

Over time, our rules and household protocols shifted, both with changing scientific guidance, and with our own levels of fatigue and frustration. We tried to strike a balance that wasn’t cavalier but still respected our mental health and need for connection.