I’m looking forward to getting back out reporting more often

Back in January, I wrote about how much I miss going out to cover stories and being able to interact with people faceto-face.

In my role as assistant senior editor for four different papers, I don’t often have as much free time to do actual reporting like I used to, however, I always tried to get out to go cover something whenever time allowed.

That became less frequent during the pandemic. I’ll admit that at the beginning of the pandemic, I was pretty paranoid about catching the coronavirus.

But over time, that paranoia did become a little less, but the thought of possibly being able to get it has always been in the back of my mind still, especially since I do have some underlying health conditions.

Well, starting today (Wednesday) much of that paranoia will go away for me. I will be fully vaccinated with the two-week period after getting my second vaccine dose.

Now I know someone could still catch the virus even after being vaccinated, but having that a lot lower risk makes things feel so much better when going out around others.

I will still practice as many public health guidelines as possible such as wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, more so around those that have not been vaccinated and wash my hands.

This coming Friday is my first opportunity to go out and cover a press conference after being fully vaccinated and I am so excited to go to it.

I’ll be heading to a city where I spent a lot of my time as a reporter — in Watervliet.

It will be nice to see people like Mayor Charles Patricelli and others face-to-face rather than over the phone or on Zoom.

I’m also looking forward to meeting new Watervliet Police Chief Joe Centanni during his swearing-in ceremony on Friday.

Another bonus of going back out to cover events in person will be being able to use my digital camera and get some good quality photos instead of provided photos, screenshot photos, or file photos.

I’m hoping as more and more people decide to get vaccinated that there will be even more events to cover this year and that annual outdoor festivals will be back. It will be nice to go to those kinds of events as well as concerts, sporting events and have more family functions this summer.