Vaccine envy afoot

It seems everywhere I go people are talking about getting their COVID-19 vaccine shot or shots, plural. The Times-Standard headline the other day read, “1 In 5 People Have Been Vaccinated”. I read that headline as, “4 Out Of 5 People Have Not Been Vaccinated”. It’s become a game of, “How do I get to the front of the line to get my shot?”

We started the COVID vaccine rollout for those in Phase 1A: healthcare workers and long-term care residents (senior homes). Then we vaccinated those who were 75 years or older. Now we’re in Phase 1B: those who are 65 years or older, those who work in food and agriculture (includes restaurants, retail sales and timber), education and childcare and emergency services. Also included are those ages 16-64 with higher risks, such as cancer, pregnant, chronic kidney or pulmonary disease, heart conditions, severe obesity and Type-2 diabetes.

Here’s where it gets tricky. The vaccines are distributed state by state and then county by county. Here in Humboldt County, cannabis is considered “agriculture” and that’s an estimated 10% of our workforce who just moved to the front of the line. Then we had more than 50 Humboldt County Superior Court employees go to the front of the line for vaccinations, even though they weren’t qualified under Phase 1B. What about those essential workers who’ve been in the front lines dealing face-toface with the public this past year? I’m talking about employees at our financial institutions. We’re still at the back of the line.

We’ve had vaccine appointments canceled due to lack of supply and some on the waitlist get the call, email or text: “We’ve got eight vaccines that have to be used today as there were no-shows. The first eight who show up get vaccinated.” I talked to someone in their 30s who got the call from his nurse girlfriend, “We’ve got excess vaccines. Get here now!”

Every Californian can sign up at www.myturn.ca.gov or call (833) 422-4255 to see if it’s your turn to get the COVID-19 vaccine. I completed the survey and got this response “It will be your turn soon, but you are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine at this time.” Back of the line again.

I’ve heard of people going from Safeway to Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS to see what the process is at each business. I called my own doctor, got transferred to the COVID response person, got a recording, left a message and haven’t heard back yet. I’ve heard of people traveling to other counties to see what the process is in Del Norte and Mendocino counties.

Then we have our social obstacles. Many religious folks believe that God will cure them if they contract COVID-19, so they’re not getting the vaccine. Thanks to Fox News promoting the fact that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is providing funding for vaccine research, almost 50% of Republican men don’t believe in COVID and refuse to take the vaccine. According to Tucker Carlson, the Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization want us to get vaccinated as part of an effort to enact “mass social control.” Undocumented residents are fearful of coming forward for their vaccines. And of course we’ve got the social media conspiracy theories that the vaccine contains microchips for the government to track our every move, the vaccine will alter our DNA and the vaccine will cause cancer. I saw it on Fox News or read it on the Internet, so it must be true.

Then let’s throw in all the people who don’t believe in facts or the truth, the antivaxxers and the QAnon conspiracies theorists and we’ve got a large swath of our population that refuses to get vaccinated. One person said on Twitter, “There wasn’t a vaccine against the Black Plague.” to which the next person commented, “Yes and half of Europe died, you moron!”

To achieve herd immunity (when most of our population becomes immune to a disease), we will require 80-90% of our population to get vaccinated. Considering 30% of Americans don’t believe in COVID or refuse to get vaccinated, this could be a problem. Over 540,000 Americans have died from COVID in just one year. Maybe we should all take a global pandemic seriously.

Maybe we should all take a global pandemic seriously.

Matthew Owen resides in Eureka, and believes the First Amendment allows for free speech, even when married to a Humboldt County supervisor.