Vaccine doesn’t inoculate against hurt feelings

Dear Amy:I have been close friends with “Brenda” since we were kids.

We touch base a few times a week. We are now both 65 and live in the same community.

We’ve been struggling to get COVID vaccinations.

Brenda messaged me, saying, “Our friend called us to come get vaccinated, since the pharmacy had leftover vaccine and they wanted to use it up before it went bad.”

I am glad to know that my dear friend and her husband were vaccinated. But, Amy, I am really stung that she did not phone me and tell me about this opportunity.

If the situation had been reversed, I would have called her right away.

I was flummoxed and simply told her I was glad.

But I am feeling hurt and feel like our friendship has been bruised.

Your thoughts? – Disappointed in the Northeast

Dear Disappointed: I’ve read of lines forming at vaccine-dispensing pharmacies, starting well before the pharmacy opens in the morning. Some pharmacies are offering leftover doses, rather than destroy the vaccine at the end of the day.

Most often, very few doses are available, and so yes, you should assume in your friend’s case, you would not have been able to snag one, even with a bit of advance notice.

I realize that a sort of “every man for himself ” ethic seems to have taken hold regarding the vaccine for COVID, but one way to see this is now that your friend and her husband are vaccinated, this frees up two more doses for others to receive by appointment.

All the same, you should tell your friend how you feel about this.

Amy Dickinson