Covid hasn’t gone away (you know)

It’s a very warm Monday afternoon out here in Creggs as I write, and I am thinking how great it is to have almost returned to normal living!

On Sunday we had large attendances at a lot of the GAA games that took place around the country, and thankfully the wearing of masks seems to be a thing of the past.

All this would lead you to believe that Covid-19 is, like the Celtic Tiger, very powerful but relatively short-lived… and now gone but not forgotten. And yet as I read my text messages this morning (maybe it was my emails) I was advised by the HSE that as I am a (very) senior citizen, I should get my spring booster vaccine before the end of May. They go on to tell me that the booster provides good protection against becoming seriously ill if I get Covid-19, so the obvious message is that Covid is still here, probably forever, and we still need to be careful.

And so, after I finish this week’s column, I am going to follow their advice and book what I think will be my fourth or fifth vaccine. As it happens, despite having an abundance of underlying conditions, the one time that I contracted the virus I was hardly sick at all, so even though many people don’t believe in the vaccines and refuse to get them, I for one am convinced they helped me when I did get it, so I’ll be off to get my next shot as soon as possible.

So my message is keep enjoying life as best you can but don’t drop your guard.

Then last weekend I heard of the death of John Higgins who I worked with in the Bank of Ireland in Dundalk way back in the 1970s. He was part of a group of six or seven of us who were the best of friends back then in the border town.

John was the son of Cavan football legend, Mick Higgins, who was the sergeant in the Cavan village of Tullyvin. Many a time they gave me a lift to Longford on a Friday evening. They would be going to the greyhounds where Mick would have a dog or two racing, while I would be thumbing home in the era before I became a motorist. Anyway, they were two good ones and our world is a poorer place for their passing.

To all their relatives and friends, I offer my sincere sympathies. May Mick and John rest in peace.