Several things occurred this past Tuesday, they all intersect and I would like to treat this as a teachable moment.

When I woke up Tuesday morning the eBook version of Naomi Klein’s just released book, Doppelgänger, was available on my iPad. I had an afternoon appointment schedules to get my RSV vaccine shot administered. Late that afternoon the news broke that the CDC had authorized the latest COVID vaccine. Believe it or not all of this, and more, relate.

Fall has become vaccination time and 2023 will be the busiest for me. With my 60th birthday having occurred more than a decade ago the RSV shot was recommended and a prudent move. Mission accomplished.

COVID may (and I have to stress may) be under control in America but it is not gone. The numbers and scientific research tell us that a new variant is lurking making getting the newly approved shot – which should be available very, very soon – advisable. Flu is with us and seemingly always will be. I personally would rather not get it and am even more concerned about protecting a member of my extended family to whom it could really be serious. Therefore, in the very near future I will be getting both of those vaccines. (I have the good fortune of having someone with her doctorate in a pharmaceutically related field in the family so she will guide me on the optimal timing. Oh, yes is wrote “her”. Women can be both smart and knowledgeable and those who do not realize that operate under a self-imposed handicap!)

I read relatively rapidly and have more time for it than most so I’m well into Doppelgänger. In it, Klein relates many of the right wing myths of the early pandemic. To be honest I had forgotten most of them. Now, just as then, I shake my head at how stupid you would have to be to not instantly reject the majority of them. I fear the right wing mythology machine will gear up again and as a result we will endure many unnecessary deaths and hospitalizations.

My regular readers will remember that I contracted COVID earlier this year despite being fully vaccinated. No vaccine is a 100% foolproof preventative. It will make it less likely that your contract the disease it is designed to combat and if you do, the case should be a much milder one. That is what happened in my case. As I told my primary care provider, I have had much worse colds and certainly more uncomfortable hangovers. (Like George W, Bush said, “When I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish.” Thankfully with age came a bit of wisdom.)

My bottom line today is that this should not be a political issue. Based on your personal health situation get the vaccine(s) that are prudent for you. Remember we all breathe the same air and if you don’t care about yourself (which is a rare instance) then think about the moral obligation you have to those you interact with.

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