Taking into account my age and some breathing problems I have, I think I’m in the priority group and am considering being vaccinated as soon as possible.
Several measures were taken and we went through several phases. We saw the first wave of measures, then an easing of the confinement in September / October and, now, a further worsening of the measures. This means that for nine months we had several periods. In the first, in which there was total confinement with great pressure from the media, I, like most people, was quarantined at home. What did that represent? I realized that I had to practice physical and intellectual exercise. I started a diet, associated with physical exercise, and made a set of reflections about the economy because, for me, it became evident, as early as the second half of March, that the closure countries at the level of large sectors of the economy would determine an economic crisis. So I started to reflect on that and that reflection was part of my intellectual exercise.
Regarding physical exercise, I took advantage of the garden and, until a certain moment, I even took 12 thousand steps a day. Result: I lost seven kilos. As for the intellectual exercise, in the months of April and May I started publishing two or three articles scattered in the media, but at one point, I thought: instead of publishing scattered articles in order to reflect on the economic crisis and how we could turn the crisis into an opportunity, it would be more interesting if I wrote a book on it.
From mid-September onwards, I began to gradually get out of confinement. What did that represent? I started to leave the house, to go out to lunch more often and even attend meetings with all the recommended care: mask, social distance, etc., but I felt the need to start going out. When the new restrictive measures appeared, I stayed at home again, participating in meetings over the internet. After finishing the book I dedicated myself more to reading. In this stage, I abandoned my trips to Abrantes, my hometown. I have reduced my mobility and am now resuming the physical exercise that had been interrupted, the steps I stopped taking, in order to regain the fitness I had in July.
We are all waiting for the vaccine to arrive and for it to be effective. Taking into account my age and some breathing problems I have, I think I’m in the priority group and am thinking about being vaccinated as soon as possible. Are there fears? I have to have confidence in the quality control carried out both in an European and national level. It is always a risk assessment but, in my age group, the risk of not taking the vaccine is greater than the risk of taking it. I am very inclined to be vaccinated.
By Eduardo Catroga, Economist, 78 years old
