The upswing, week 2

[petrea_mitchell]

I read once about a study that showed that when someone is told that an unpleasant experience is almost over, their perception of time slows down. That's where I am now. We have vaccines, we have more vaccines coming, everyone is working the kinks out of their mass vaccination process, and I still don't expect I personally will be able to start getting immunized until well into the spring.

I mean, I don't begrudge anyone else their place in line ahead of me, they need it! I just wish we could go to the musical montage to gloss over the next few months and then cut to me getting my shot. Or my first shot.

We will soon have a real variety of vaccines with varying effectiveness against different seriousnesses of covid-19, and varying effectiveness against different mutations, and a choice of one shot or two, deep-frozen or lightly refrigerated. The unified message from health experts coming out now is that the best vaccine for you is whichever one is available to you soonest. Just as having anything at all covering your face holes is an improvement over being unmasked, any vaccine is immensely preferable to not being vaccinated at all.

Vaccine talk is everywhere. One colleague announced on the workplace Slack server that he's just gotten his first dose (being a caregiver to one of his adult children) and hasn't had anything worse than a sore arm. A couple others whose spouses are healthcare workers who have been fully vaccinated chimed in to say that that's typical, it's the second shot that puts you out of commission for a day or so.

That about describes the whole range of reactions I've already experienced from flu shots over the years. So speed, up calendar! I'm ready!

Comments

[delosharriman]

I filled out the form for the local public health department, & there wasn't any space on it for "household of a vulnerable person". Meanwhile, my 96-year-old grandmother, who's been staying here most of the past year, has gotten her first shot.

[petrea_mitchell]

Yeah, there isn't any priority for just living with a vulnerable person out here either. The guy at work has some kind of official designation as a caregiver that got him on the list. Congrats to your grandmother, though!