Would I take an early shot at COVID-19 immunity?
We all want the vaccine. It’s what stands between us and our normal lives. But here’s the question: Would you get it now, if it meant jumping the line?
Some people are getting the vaccine early by being in the same car as someone with an appointment, even though they aren’t health care workers, teachers, or 65 and older.
No one likes waiting. Yet people who posted on social media about cutting the line have been shamed by others.
I’d already been planning to go with Savannah, who’s a nurse and my son Sawyer’s half-sister, to get her second dose.
If I was offered the vaccine before I was eligible, would I take it? As Savannah pulled into line at the state fairgrounds, with me in the passenger seat, I was in turmoil about it.
I want that vaccine, desperately. How could I turn it down?
I knew eligible people were having trouble getting it.
Then again, if I didn’t take it, there was no guarantee it would go to someone at higher risk.
The people giving the vaccines must know what they’re doing. If they offered it to me, it would be for a good reason. Maybe it would be thrown out before it went bad.
If I got it, I’d be protecting myself, of course. But I’d also be helping slow the spread of the virus. I wouldn’t tax already busy hospitals.
If I was vaccinated, I could care for family or friends who got COVID-19 without getting sick.
Maybe I could get it and not tell anyone, I thought. (As if I can keep anything to myself.) But then if I felt the need to keep it secret, something wasn’t right.
In the end, it wasn’t offered to me — and I didn’t ask — so I didn’t have to decide. I like to think that if offered, I’d have said no, though I’m not sure.
I’ll wait my turn. It’ll come soon enough.