This post will stir some trouble, but in the words of Shakespeare, “To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate”, that is the question. I do not wish to get the COVID vaccine – that is my choice. Now, I have never taken the Flu shot, and all my family has never taken the flu shot, we seriously never or rarely get sick. I think the last time I had some sniffles was back in 2019, and that was like a runny nose and which lasted a few days. I have over 250 hours of PTO at work, which lets you know I don’t miss work. I do take a couple of weeks off a year for a recharge or sometimes a family vacation. Check this out, both my kids have missed a combined maybe 15 days of school their entire time, so far. We take pride in keeping or trying to keep healthy. I understand that not everyone is like us, yes, some people have underlining health issues which means they need to take extra precaution.
I know that this pandemic is real, I have had close friends and some distant family members lose loved ones to COVID. I think the Government along with the media are making this out to be more than it is – not saying it is a conspiracy act or anything like that, just saying I believe there is more to this hat we are being told. But back to the COVID vaccine, as I said I do not wish to get it, that doesn’t mean that peer pressure can change my mind or that it already has. I know I said “Peer pressure”, come on now, as children it was all around us, and even as adults we still see it and feel it. The reason I say peer pressure is for the following reason. Our neighbors have all gotten the vaccine, and they keep on asking every other day, which makes me think is that going to be a new thing, asking the people you meet, “Hey did you get vaccinated?”. I mean are we going to need new pick up lines around vaccination, just saying. Anyhow, so our neighbors keep asking – that is one. Another reason is that my partner runs a daycare and of course, most of the parents are in the health care industry doctors, scientists, and even a health inspector. They are all fully vaccinated and have asked if my partner was vaccinated, at first it wasn’t something she wanted to do, but yesterday she got her second shot and she did it for the parents, kids, and of course her – peer pressure. Another reason is, that I am hearing in the news that there are restaurants that will require people to have a vaccination card to dine in – “Wait, what!”. I was completely astonished, not saying it is in their right to do that, but I am pretty sure that if they lost business during the shutdowns, they will lose permanent business if they ask for vaccination cards – a lot of people are simply tired, just saying. Also, some states when traveling might require a vaccination card otherwise you will need to provide negative results when traveling, or you could end up quarantined – I don’t know all the details just what I hear. Imagine heading on a vacation and you are confined to your hotel room, is that possible.
Let me say, my poor son is in college and this was his first year. He started last year during the pandemic around October was the move-in date for him at his dorm. He had to get COVID tested before he could take his room, plus do a weekly test to remain on campus. The dorm he is in was for 32 students, double occupancy, but they only allowed 16. My son had his own room. Yet he could not gather in the dorm with anyone, eat downstairs, even after everyone in the house tested negative week in and week out, he was confined to his dorm the entire year. He is in his finals at the moment, I believe he will wrap up his first year on June 10 or something. The poor guy all year long took the COVID test each week and was stuck in his dorm – not the college experience I wished he had. Now wait there is more; so he receives an email stating that they will be reopening the campus and in-classroom teaching this coming fall 2021. He was super happy and was looking forward to participating in campus activities and everything about college. Well, he later received another email stating that students that were fully vaccinated were the ones allowed back in the class. He was upset and told me that it wasn’t fair because he has been taking care of himself, following the rules, and now it was a must if he wanted to attend in-class instructions. We talked about it and he told me and his mom that he was going to get the COVID vaccine because he really wanted to get back into the class, talk to the professors, and interact with people – of course, we supported his decision. Wait check this out, he receives another email, keep in mind he is now fully vaccinated, stating that it would be up to the professors if they want to teach in person. My son lost it; he could not believe what he was hearing. The thing is the cost of college did not go down, they kept charging for facilities that students could no use, it was upsetting – there is more to this. Poor guy, he might end up taking classes online again, not sure how many, but he is worried that most of the professors will decide to teach online. Let me tell you, this year was tough for him, the professors were hardly ever available for help, or questions, and sometimes he said they would give busy work. The students were upset, and they all felt they did not learn the objective of the class. So you see “Peer pressure or social pressure” just to get in-class learning. I know what some of you are thinking, well if your friend jumps off the roof will you jump off the roof, I get it, but this is different for some reason and I know there are people that want to get vaccinated, and those that do not.
Circling back to me; guess what, Friday I received my first dose of the vacation – yup. I thought to myself I just rather avoid something unpleasant in the future when it comes to dining, traveling, visiting a friend, or heck going grocery shopping – so I decided to just do it. I got the Pfizer, and the only thing so far is a soar arm, a little hard to move, but nothing serious. So the thing is, even though I did not want to get vaccinated, did I do it for the right reasons? I care about people, those around me, but was it necessary for me to do it. I mean let’s talk about the Flu, yes it is not COVID, but let’s talk about it. According to the CDC as of April 4, 2020, between 24,000 and 62,000 lost their lives to the flu (USA). I know, I know more died of COVID . The thing is not everyone gets the flu shot, yet we go about our everyday lives, yes once again it is not COVID – I got it, but the flu has been around a long time and not everyone gets the flu shot and we move on. If you get vaccinated shouldn’t we stand a better chance to not contract it or our body has a better chance to fight it? I am not a doctor, but the thing is I still feel something is not right with this whole thing, once again I am not saying it is a conspiracy or anything just saying that something is fishy. Anyhow, so I got my first dose and whether I did it for the right reason or not I could not tell you, because my answer may not be the one you want to hear.
Anyhow, the question I leave you with is “To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate”? I appreciate your time, I hope you have a wonderful day or evening.