Merry (belated) Christmas, and an even happier New Year! 2020 has definitely been tumultuous – and even downright-scary – and you’re probably a little bit relieved that this crazy year is finally coming to a close. Even better, an end to the pandemic is finally in-sight: two COVID-19 vaccines have been approved and are currently being administered to essential workers and residents in long-term care facilities all over the United States.

There is, understandably, quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding the development, safety, and distribution of these vaccines. Read on to find the answers to some commonly asked questions, as well as resources you can use for further research!

2020 has been a tough year. Quarantines and Lockdowns, already exhausting measures, are even more difficult to deal with over the holiday season. But now is not the time for complacency, especially with flu season just around the corner – and that means being extra careful to take good care of your health.

It has been eight months since most of the United States went into some form of lockdown to try and flatten the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19. Since then, a lot has changed, from work and school schedules to social and political issues to how we interact with our friends and family—if at all. As 2020 comes to a close, it may be tempting to gather with your loved ones and celebrate the holidays the way you always have, trying to maintain some semblance of tradition. However, it is still important to make sure you are taking precautions and staying safe.

Happy Halloween! Although trick-or-treating may look a little different this year, that doesn’t mean you should miss out on the candy and costumes entirely. Here are three ways to stay healthy but still have fun this weekend.

The health benefits of exercise are well-known: working out regularly has been shown to improve mood, reduce the risk of heart disease, manage blood sugar, strengthen muscles, improve sleep, and more. Simple activities such as walking in a park, visiting a local pool, or going to the gym for an hour are generally easy ways to work exercise into your daily routine—but in a global pandemic, it suddenly becomes much harder (if not impossible) to do so. However, despite social-distancing measures, it is still important to engage in physical activity every day—and, with a little adaptation, it is certainly possible to have a quality workout from the comfort of your own home.

For millions of kids and young adults across the nation, the months of August and September mark the beginning of a new academic year, and with it comes a slew of mixed emotions: excitement, anxiety, happiness, annoyance. Whatever their feelings are, though, the start of school is a return to a familiar routine that they have been accustomed to following for nine months in a year (albeit with some adjustment if they’re distance-learning). But what about the group of kids for whom school isn’t a common event? Those who have never before had to sit in a classroom and pay attention for several hours at a time? The children entering Kindergarten—the youngest, least-experienced students among us—will have the hardest time making the transition from Summer Vacation to Daily Education, a tough task under normal circumstances and undoubtedly much harder during a global pandemic.

Under normal circumstances, the end of summer would bring a mixture of sadness and excitement as families start to plan school-shopping shopping trips and trading in their shorts and bathing suits for boots and coats, with children looking forward to seeing their friends every day while parents change their work schedule to work around pickup schedules and extracurricular activities.

Running errands pre-pandemic was a fairly simple affair: the biggest challenges comprised of putting together the grocery list and, perhaps, finding an open slot in a crowded parking lot. Now, there are countless other concerns that accompany the weekly routine in order to make sure the likelihood of exposure to the virus is as minimized as possible. 

With COVID-19 cases plateauing in Northern Virginia, Maryland school districts possibly holding in-person classes in the upcoming school year as appropriate, and The National Gallery of Art and National Zoo reopening this week, all in the midst of high infection and hospitalization rate across the DMV area, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to bring a new set of challenges over the coming months. MD COVIDsitters (MDCS) remains committed to supporting essential workers and their families throughout this situation and afterward.

Being a parent during the COVID-19 Pandemic comes with a unique set of challenges: homeschooling, making time for self-care, and finding ways to occupy them that don’t involve copious amounts of screen-time, just to name a few.