Vaccines reunite families

Together

AGAIN

After a year of the pandemic, vaccinations began to roll out and families were reunited.

Liz Keyter with her grandfather, Vincent Cardillo, before the pandemic. Tara Zamorano’s family.

BY SABRINA LEE

After being in and out of three nursing homes, catching Covid-19 and being isolated from everyone, 90-year-old Elizabeth Ring was finally vaccinated and reunited with her loved ones. She received her second dose of the vaccine on March 22. For Ring’s family and so many other families, the vaccine meant more than just immunity from a virus; families could once again see one another in person after over a year of isolation. Ring’s daughter, Tara Zamorano, used to see her mother multiple times a week before the pandemic, and then suddenly, all of their interactions were only through FaceTime.

In December of 2020, Ring started experiencing excruciating pain and could no longer stand by herself. After trips to the emergency room, she was diagnosed with osteomyelitis — a serious infection to the bone that required six weeks of treatment with antibiotics. On top of all of that, she also tested positive for Covid-19, making it impossible for Zamorano to visit her mother.

“After Dec. 27th, we couldn’t visit her anymore; we couldn’t see her; we couldn’t make sure that she was being cared for in the right way,” Zamorano said. “There wasn’t a time where I wasn’t worried.”

Then, in March 2020, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines for fully vaccinated people: “Fully vaccinated grandparents can visit indoors with their unvaccinated healthy daughter and her healthy children without wearing masks or physical distancing, provided none of the unvaccinated family members are at risk of severe Covid-19.”

For families like Zamorano, it was an overwhelming relief to visit and care for her mother in person once again. This was also the case for 19-year-old Liz Keyter. Keyter’s 92-year-old grandfather, Vincent Cardillo, had been living alone in New York City for the entirety of the pandemic. After he was fully vaccinated, Keyter decided to give him a surprise visit. Upon seeing his granddaughter for the first in over a year, he was overwhelmed and had to sit down.

“Seeing him again was like, ‘OK, there’s some hope; we made it through this; we made it through the worst, hopefully,’” Keyter said. “And if he was still chugging along, that’s really all that mattered to me and my family.”

The wedding industry has had to change course when it comes to planning a couple’s special day, which has resulted in many weddings being postponed or canceled.

BY COURTNEY INGALLS

The dress was picked. The invitations were sent. The deposits were made. Then March 20, 2020 hit, and everything was put on hold. Catering halls have tried to plan weddings over the past year, but Covid-19 has gotten in the way. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered all non-essential gatherings of any size to be canceled, many engaged couples were left scrambling to figure out how to tie the knot.

‘I Do’s’

IN A PANDEMIC

Photo from Unsplash

“Their first initial [reaction] was, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do?’ A lot of them had to reschedule, postpone, or some of them just decided they were going to get married by an officiant and have a big party in another year or so when they could,” said Marie Freeman, co-publisher and editor of Long Island Bride and Groom Magazine. The Covid-19 shutdown not only affected engaged couples, but also wedding venues, caterers and DJs. “These businesses are not set to go a year, or longer than a year, without revenue,” said Stuart Freeman, co-publisher of Long Island Bride and Groom. “This is their livelihood. All of their revenue is dependent on these weddings” Now, after a full year of couples choosing to elope or resorting to smaller weddings in their backyards, wedding venues are able to host events with up to 150 people. There are, however, Covid-19 restrictions that must be followed, such as requiring proof of a recent negative test or immunization for all guests before a wedding, making sure masks are worn at most times, except when guests are seated, and enforcing social distancing during ceremonies and dances.

With the restrictions for gatherings changing constantly, and uncertainity about future infection rates, many engaged couples are still hesitant about trying to reschedule their special days. “Brides don’t really want to commit right now because they aren’t sure what the restrictions are going to look like,” Stuart said. “It’s really hard to say, ‘Ok, I’m going to have a wedding this September’ when you really don’t know what the future is right now.” Even though people might be waiting to book their weddings for a bit longer, Marie said everyone in the industry is ready to get back to helping couples make their dream weddings become a reality. “A lot of people are very cautious right now, but most of the people are looking forward to doing weddings again,” she said. “They are ready; they want to get out there and start doing what they can do.”