Why I Got Vaccinated
People all across the United States, and the world, are getting vaccinated, not as fast as we had hoped, but the momentum is building. In America, each state is given a quota of vaccine doses depending on the number and makeup of their population, but it is up to each state to determine how and to whom the vaccine is given. Some of the problems with getting people vaccinated has been that the states’ overworked and understaffed public healthcare workers were given this added responsibility. It has also been reported that some people are still reluctant to get vaccinated. I thought it might be helpful to explain why I made the decision to get vaccinated and the somewhat convoluted path I took to get my first vaccination.
I have written here before about all the logical and scientific reasons everyone should get vaccinated. You can click here to read that blog. There are other reasons that made me even more motivated to get vaccinated. I’ve been very careful for almost a year, I’ve worn a mask, stayed away from my kids and grandkids, and stayed home. I was getting sick and tired of all of it. I’m sure there are a lot of you that feel the same way. Getting vaccinated has been a glimmer of hope that has kept me from saying to heck with all of it and letting down my guard. When I finally got scheduled for my first shot (more about that later) my mind set was . . . keep staying safe, you don’t want to blow it now. I think looking forward to getting vaccinated may help us to continue to do the things that keep us safe.
The other thing that has motivated me was my take on how getting vaccinated was going to change my life. Now, this is my opinion, I’m not a scientist, I’m just a guy who believes in science, and I think the government and the media have been overly cautious and undersold the fact that getting vaccinated will, both in the short and the long term, change our lives.
After getting the second shot and waiting the appropriate amount of time so I get the full protection of the vaccine, I’m going to go to a restaurant and sit down and enjoy a meal with my wife and another couple who have also been vaccinated. I’ll enjoy a meal that isn’t cold from delivery or eaten while battling with the steering wheel of my car (a car that has witnessed so many meals in the last months that I could survive for a week on just the food that has dropped down between the seats.) We’ll then go back to our house and sit down and enjoy each other’s company without masks and social distancing, we might even play cards. I’ll go to a movie, go see a play, go to a concert, travel, and stay in a hotel. When I’m doing these things, I will wear a mask, as instructed by health officials, when I could come in contact with people who may not have been vaccinated. I think there is a small chance that someone who has been vaccinated can pass the virus. I do hope that the scientists are looking at the data and doing whatever they need to do to ascertain if a vaccinated person can infect someone. The sooner we know the answer, the better off we’ll be.
We need to somehow get better at getting people vaccinated. I know we wanted to get the most vulnerable people vaccinated first, but we should also be getting as many needles in arms as possible. The war will be ultimately won when the virus can’t infect anymore people . . . herd immunity. My sense is that there has been very little overall organization in getting people vaccinated. Take my experience for instance. I happened to be in southern Utah away from my home in northern Utah when our Governor said that people 70 and older would now be eligible to be vaccinated. I quickly signed onto the southwest Utah health department site only to find that all the appointments for weeks ahead were already taken and I had to try again next week. The next day, my friend texted me that a friend of hers had seen on a Facebook page that the local hospital had obtained a few thousand doses and there was a link to get scheduled. I clicked the link and there was a sign-up calendar on a well-known scheduling software with some available times. I was able to get appointments for my wife and me for the next day. My point here is that a friend of a friend had found a link and I got scheduled. My older friends in northern Utah will get their first shot two or three weeks after me. This example was certainly not the most equitable or efficient way to vaccinate the older people in Utah. Somehow, we need to get better at this, put emphasis on getting the most people vaccinated as quickly as possible. Establish a single place for vaccination information and make it accessible by computer and by phone and broadcast it to everyone.
An article came out today from the New York Times that focuses on the good news about vaccines. This is exactly the kind of article that puts things in the correct perspective.
I do want to tell you that I walked away after getting my shot with a real deep feeling of relief, a feeling of hope that I was finally on the road to normalcy and the only side affect was a slightly sore arm for a day. Our government and the media need to tell some of those stories, they need to tell us that getting vaccinated can give us relief and hope. We need to tell our friends to trust the science and recognize how getting vaccinated will change our lives. I’m due for my second vaccination on February 10th and I’m making a reservation at a nice restaurant on the 24th. For me that will be a huge change in my life.
Get vaccinated so that all our lives will change, and we can all hug our loved ones again!
Best, Thair