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We were promised a Hot Vax summer.
The term – a riff from Hot Girl Summer, the 2019 summer hit single – emerged this spring as a predictive shorthand for the (perhaps literally) orgiastic reception of a post-vaccine reality. But, as one would expect from a phenomenon named for a world’s last great summer anthem before Covid-19, Hot Vax Summer connoted more than a happy exchange of fluids. He came to signal a better scenario for a transition period. Pure celebration and better lives lived. Simply put, relief.
What has instead happened is a season of ambivalence. For many, the euphoria of the long-awaited hugs is offset by the anxiety of the interaction. Optimism is met with sorrow. Gratitude, tempered by the sobering rise of the highly contagious Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus (and frustration over vaccine reluctance that allowed its rapid spread in the United States). As spring turned into summer, new uncertainties took the place of others. Hope keeps pace with pain.
A new phase of the pandemic is upon us: the double reality.
Vaxxed, waxed and uncertain
This distinct era of competing truths became clear during the first full week of July. #CovidIsNotOver became a trending Twitter topic the same day the CDC updated its mask guidelines for in-person learning, announcing that vaccinated teachers and their students were clear to go mask-less in their classrooms.
“We are at a new stage in the pandemic that we are all passionate about,” said Erin Sauber-Schatz, head of the Covid-19 emergency response task force at CDC, according to the Associated Press.
The spirit of the announcement seemed at odds with the key developments that unfolded around it. Already a growing threat across Europe, Delta was fueling an increase in Covid-19 cases in the United States, with parts of Arkansas and Missouri reporting unprecedented positive test rates since the pandemic peaked in mid of winter. In the UK, NHS medical staff have expressed ‘fear and anxiety’ over the rapidly rising numbers, especially amid the continued loosening of pandemic restrictions.
To some extent, ambiguity has defined the past 16 months. “Uncertainty is an abstract and ubiquitous stressor during pandemics, Covid-19 being no exception,” says Steven Taylor, psychologist at the University of British Columbia and author of the premonitory book The Psychology of Pandemics (2019).
As Taylor reminds me, uncertainties arose even before the pandemic was declared: “Will this epidemic become a pandemic?” People wondered. Uncertainties will also persist after the pandemic: “Is this the end of the pandemic or just the end of another wave?”
Such unanswered – and unanswered – questions facilitate the existence of parallel, even contradictory, understandings of what is going on. That is, eternal optimists may be inclined to indulge in their post-vax bliss and even slip into the past when discussing the pandemic with friends. The anxious subjects among us, on the other hand, double down on what comes naturally: a spectacular spectacle of worry.
“Most people find it stressful to deal with uncertainties,” says Taylor, “but people with a particular personality trait tend to have particularly difficult times. “
These are people who, in psychological personality assessments, score high on a trait called “uncertainty intolerance”. These people, Taylor explains, tend to worry a lot. They are also likely to have experienced higher levels of distress throughout the pandemic, including with regard to vaccination.
Persistent anxiety
In some cases, pandemic distress has plunged people into an almost agoraphobic state of caution to protect themselves from Covid. These people may also have been subject to compulsive symptom control, even though they were not in a high risk situation, and avoiding other people. In an October 2020 article published in Psychiatry Research, psychologists named this collection of anxiety behaviors: Covid-19 anxiety syndrome.
“Adaptation strategies [some people] acquired may have become ‘anchored’ in their daily lives and be considered important for staying ‘safe’, ”wrote the co-authors of the article, Ana Nikčević of Kingston University in London and Marcantonio Spada, professor. at London South Bank University, and predicted that for people with the syndrome, getting back to “normal” would likely be difficult.
Nine months later, I wonder if the researchers’ prediction is coming true. Are people struggling as intensely as they were a year ago, when the Covid-19 vaccination seemed like an eternity?
In short, according to Spada: yes.
“Since we started tracking Covid-19 anxiety syndrome in May 2020, the changes have been minimal,” the professor tells me via email. “Indeed, in our last survey from June 2021, approval for avoiding, worrying and watching threats remains high, with around one in five still reporting significant distress.” Spada adds that in the UK, US and Italy, anxiety levels remain particularly high.
I ask if the weirdness of the double reality of summer might be a factor in the lingering and unshakeable anxiety of some people.
“It probably is,” says Spada. “Because we have so many differing opinions and mixed messages, the underlying fear of the virus is not diminishing. This is likely to cause people to try and control fear by engaging in behaviors such as avoidance, worry, etc. – the syndrome – to ensure their safety. “
The widespread tendency to present the pandemic in terms of “before” and “after” is probably not helping. Expecting a clean end to Covid-19 could make it harder for people to embrace the transient nature of the pandemic’s late resumption, with its many ups and downs – not to mention its contradictions.
But there is also good news. Taylor tells me that research on previous disasters and pandemics indicates that most people will bounce back to their pre-pandemic functioning levels. Some people have even changed for the better. In a recent article, Taylor and colleagues argue that Covid-19 may be linked to a psychological phenomenon known as post-traumatic growth.
“That is,” says Taylor, “Covid-19 served as a catalyst that allowed some people to grow up as human beings.” In such cases, the many challenges of the pandemic have led to greater resilience to stress and have helped foster closer relationships between friends and family members. It deepened spirituality and strengthened communities.
The pandemic is not over and the navigation will not be smooth. But the vast majority of us will adjust, recover, and maybe come out on the other side with a better perspective. Or, as Taylor puts it, “a better appreciation of the little things in life.”
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