Today when I turned our kitchen calendar to the new month, I saw it: a note marking our eligibility for a COVID booster shot, which I’d added months ago when the CDC was recommending adults get a third shot eight months after their second dose.
For months, J and I were counting down to that eight-month date. When the CDC changed their guidance on boosters, I circled a different date: October 23. That’s the day J and I got our COVID booster exactly six months after our second Pfizer shot.
It was never a question of whether J and I would get a booster; it was simply a question of when. From the start of the pandemic, J and I have followed all the advice the experts have given. When asked to stay home, we stayed home. When instructed to wash our hands, we washed our hands. When told to wear a mask and avoid crowds, we did both. So when the vaccine then booster became available, we took the jab as soon as we were eligible.
Whenever I hear people grumble about the need for COVID boosters, I have to bite my tongue. Why do some folks think a lethal virus that caused a global pandemic will be defeated by a single one-two punch?
I’m guessing the folks who complain about needing to get a booster don’t have any chronic medical conditions that require ongoing management. If you’re able-bodied, it’s easy to envision illness as being a thing that can be quickly and efficiently cured. Got pandemic? Take a shot, and everything’s fixed!
Folks who live with chronic medical conditions know that life is seldom so simple. My life relies upon medical science. I have asthma and hypothyroidism, and I take multiple medications to manage both. Whenever I take my daily meds, I don’t curse the fact that there is no “one and done” treatment. Instead, I thank science for the medications that keep me alive, even if I have to keep taking them.
If you live in a country where boosters are available, don’t complain about “having to” get another shot. Instead, thank your lucky stars you have the opportunity.
Hoarded Ordinaries 