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Vaccines are Coming: Sign Me Up!
If it were up to Zeke Emmanuel, were I to catch the coronavirus he’d probably just let me die. I am, after all pretty close to his cut-off date for saving old people who are ill. He might be skeptical about my receiving the vaccine, too, since it was developed under the Trump administration. Yet I am encouraged and excited about the prospects of this vaccine, and am hopeful that we can continue to get our arms around this disease. Our first responders and related occupations should be the first to get the vaccines.
Unfortunately, the vaccines for coronavirus have been so heavily politicized that I should have no trouble finding a place in line to get the vaccination; many people in this country want to take a wait-and-see approach to vaccinations since people like me might die from the vaccine. Or they are anti-vaxxers who object strenuously to vaccinations. Others are suspicious because vaccines are being developed under Operation Warp Speed, although the Pfizer vaccine was developed without government funds. Then you have the government leaders who are determined to make sure the vaccine fails. It’s difficult for me to believe that their resistance is all about Trump, since I’m fairly confident that he hasn’t interfered with the vaccine developers. But you won’t convince New York Governor Andrew Cuomo:
The government has sent states a data sharing agreement asking for information such as age, sex, and race of someone who gets the vaccine. While Governor Cuomo says the state will reveal that data, it won’t release the other details such as passport numbers and Social Security numbers. The governor believes that information would be used to deport undocumented immigrants, a claim the White House is denying.
trashed by rioters, characterize federal law enforcement in cities as the actions of a dictator, and one of the latest insults came from Nancy Pelosi calling COVID-19 the “Trump Virus.” I guess I should have seen that one coming; we’ll probably hear the media saying it’s only right to name it after Trump, since he appears to be regularly calling the virus the “Chinese Virus.” You know, tit-for-tat.
Usually six to ten of us show up with our lawn chairs and preferred drinks, sit in one neighbor’s driveway six feet apart without masks, to talk about the news of the week. I’ve been avoiding the group for weeks; I’m not much of a social creature anyway and don’t especially like small talk, but they are very nice women. I’d like to believe that it makes sense to maintain a warm relationship with them, however limited.
My husband and I must be the only two seniors who embrace sanity over panic. We live in a 55+ community, where many people have pre-existing conditions or simply don’t take care of themselves. To deal with their anxiety regarding the COVID-19, they feel they have to do something. They’ve decided to shop. When we went to do our weekly shopping, you would have thought that a five-force hurricane was offshore bearing down on us. Shelves were cleared of bottled water, milk, and toilet paper. I’m not sure why they’ve gotten toilet paper, but I guess for those of us who are spoiled Westerners, toilet paper is a necessity.
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