Veni, Vidi, Ouchie


I came, I saw, I got the shot.

I got my second Pfizer vaccine yesterday. At the time of this writing, the side effects have been milder than the first shot.

Then again, I’m going through hormone treatments for cancer. Sometimes it’s a little difficult to distinguish between a fever and hot flashes.

TMI? No one is making you read this.

‘Cause you know if I could, I would.

I got through the line much more quickly for the 2nd round. Unlike the first appointment that I made for 4:00 p.m., I had the good sense to set yesterday’s session for 9:00 a.m. Plus, I think they’ve learned a few things in terms of crowd control since this all started.

Still I was in line about twenty minutes, and I had the chance to think about other vaccines.

I’m not sure what vaccines babies were being given in the late 50s, so no commentary on that.

My first memory of a vaccine is the polio sugar cube. My family went as a group and I’m assuming we all got the same type of vaccine laced sugar cube. My faulty memory…give me a break, it was over 50 years ago…recalls that it was a Sunday afternoon.

I remember my parents being dressed for church and assumed that I was as well because I don’t have any recollection of a school cafeteria in your underwear nightmare.

A little googling tells me they were called Sabin Sundays, named for Albert Sabin, the Polish-American researcher who developed the oral vaccine.

Google also tells me that we went on three consecutive Sundays. I only remember one sugar cube. But I’ve never had polio, so I guess we got the other two.

My Mother’s brother did have polio and it left him with leg and back damage for the rest of his life.

My next memory is of the Smallpox vaccine. The one that left tiny little round scars on the arms of all the

The Write Side Shop

school children. Although, I didn’t get a scar, maybe because I was “big-boned” as a child. But then again, I also didn’t get Smallpox, so I guess it also worked.

When both our boys were young, we made sure they had all of the necessary shots for attending school.

While there’s no vaccine for it, the younger son was a preemie and susceptible to RSV or respiratory syncytial virus. So, in season he would get a very expensive dose of palivizumab to help prevent serious complications. Even with that, he had RSV twice. It was no fun, for him or us.

I don’t have complete memories of any other vaccines my family may encounter. I don’t think I had to have specific vaccines either of the times I traveled to Israel. But, while I don’t know current requirements, I know a lot of my friends in college going to various mission fields, had to line up for various vaccines.

That’s why I’m not too concerned about the idea of a vaccine passport for international travel.

As far as interstate travel? I think not.

I’m actually glad to see states like Florida and Texas saying they will ban vaccine passports.

Then again, I wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with including the vaccine status on say…your voter I.D. card.

Yeah. Went there.

I’m happy that I got the vaccine and I’m happy that after the initial cluster, so to speak, that the distribution is going fairly smoothly.

Many of you won’t want to hear this, but I’ve said it before. You can thank Donald Trump for that. Without his actions, and the actions of his administration, it’s likely none of us, including the Vice President who said she wouldn’t take a vaccine developed under the Trump Administration even though she did, would be vaccinated by now.

Hate him, and his Tweets, all you want, but you’re not being honest if you don’t acknowledge that.

Yeah. Also went there.

Hopefully in the next couple of months the majority of us will be vaccinated and we can return to something closer to a normal life. We can get back to church, to school, to the theater, and more.

After all, it’s springtime in Virginia, we’ve got pollen to endure…er…enjoy.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash


MUSICAL INTERLUDE


 

RANDOM LINKS OF INTEREST

246 Fully Vaccinated People in Michigan Test Positive for COVID-19; 3 Dead
The Epoch Times

GOP Governors Take Action to Block Covid ‘Vaccine Passports’
Route Fifty

McAuliffe Goes Full “Racist, Racist, Racist
Bacon’s Rebellion

Kamala Harris hasn’t visited border since being named migration point person
Washington Examiner

The Democrats Are Stuck in 1964
By constantly invoking the ghost of Jim Crow, they treat black voters as if they were helpless children.
Jason Riley in The Wall Street Journal

WHAT I’M READING


 

PODCASTS I’M LISTENING TO

The British History Podcast

Chopped Bard


BENEDICTION

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.