Boosted!
Posted on November 20, 2021 Posted by John Scalzi 77 Comments
The CDC and the USDA opened up COVID booster shots to everyone over the age of 18 yesterday, so guess what I did this morning? If you guessed “thought deeply about your mortality and your place in the universe,” then yes, in an rather abstract sense, I suppose I might have, but more specifically, I got a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine to ensure I have maximum coverage through the holiday season and beyond. Krissy went with me as well; it was like a morning date, to a CVS, to be jabbed with needles. And after I was done I bought myself a bag of gummi candies, because I was a very brave boy this morning getting a shot and all, and I deserved candy.
I got the booster shot because it was recommended by medical experts, and I have this thing where I actually do think it’s useful to listen to the experts about vaccines, and not, say, podcast hosts or virulently racist and/or performatively ignorant politicians. Beyond this, the holidays are coming up and most of us are about to spend more time indoors with more people, so a boost to one’s immune response makes sense to get right about now. Also, and this is specific to me, I live in a county where, still, less than 35% of the population is fully vaccinated. This number is unlikely to go much higher because this is a county that votes for and listens to virulently racist and/or performatively ignorant politicians, and unfortunately goes all in for the whole ecosystem of nonsense that comes along with that. Given these facts, it made sense to get an extra added layer of immunological protection once it became available.
I should be clear I didn’t worry too much about being significantly incapacitated by the COVID virus before this booster shot. I was already vaccinated and I don’t have any real comorbidities that would have complicated matters. I have been out in the world fairly significantly in this second half of the year, participating in major conventions and events. I regularly go into town for errands and shopping. It’s been fine. That said, I’m also well aware that “I’m pretty sure I have a good immune system” and “so far, so good,” are things people who are about to be unpleasantly surprised say. Plus there’s the fact that, at 52 years of age, regardless of my general physical health, I need to have a healthy (heh) respect for the truth that my body is, alas, less robust than it used to be. Getting a booster shot took a hour out of my day, during which I did errands I needed to do anyway. And now I am even better protected against a virus which is still killing people, and giving others who survive it substantial long-term health issues. There really was no downside. And it was free!
I regret that COVID happened at all, and that it first hit when we had a real chunderheaded dingus as president, who set the stage to politicize an effective treatment to end a pandemic. I also regret we live in a world where a substantial number of people seem to truly believe that there are microchips in a vaccine, and that a treatment designed to kill parasites in livestock will do anything against a virus. But it did, he did and we do, respectively, and now we just have to deal with it. The best way to deal with it, on an individual level, at least, is to get vaccinated if you can and have not done so already (or complete your vaccination if you’ve started), and to get a booster if you’re over 18 and it’s been six months since your second shot. It’ll make a difference for you, for the people around you, and hopefully in time for the nation and world. And then you’ll also be less likely to spend some portion of the holidays sick as hell, which is a not insignificant thing, either.
Go get that booster, folks. You’ll be happy you did.
— JS
Please note that if you leave a comment that reads off the cue cards for vaccine denial and/or nonsense, I’m just gonna Mallet that nonsense as soon as I see it. Save us both the effort, thanks.
I got mine the beginning of last month. Welcome to the club.
Got my third Pfizer as soon as it ok here in Maryland.
I just got my booster yesterday too. For basically all the same reasons even though age wasn’t a factor. Biggest reason was as you said, the holidays are coming up and I’ll be seeing family.
Biggest irritation was just how long it too. My original doses were pretty quick but this took like an hour total. Was nice to not even be asked about insurance though. If only all our healthcare was this easy…
Oh my God John got boosted? Have you gotten a ransom note yet? How much do they want to get him back?
You listen to experts? And you call yourself an American! /snark
I got my booster yesterday.
Mostly, what I don’t want to do, is give someone ELSE covid who’s likely to get super ill from it. And also the delta variant is a lot more virulent.
I got my Moderna booster three weeks ago when I saw the NP who is my PCP for our usual monthly visit. Being immune compromised and type II diabetic means I git it early. As usual, I had no reaction to getting a vaccination.
So my aunt went into a nursing home yesterday… She had covid 15 months ago, before the Vaccine was available. She’s in her 80’s but she was hale and hearty, before the covid, still worked part-time until she quit to isolate. Then a careless person brought Covid into her home. She went from babysitting her great-grandchildren to not being strong enough to hold them. She’s spent the last year fighting her way back, relearning to walk and to feed herself, to comb her own hair. The family has been taking care of her at home and was hopeful until the blood clots caused a stroke. I know she’s old and her life just isn’t valued, but damn it, she shouldn’t have had to go thru this past year. And now, she’ll probably spend her last days stuck in a warehouse, away from her family.
Get the damn shot. If you get C-19 you might not be lucky enough for it to kill you or to escape unscathed. You may well spend years in misery.
My wife and I will get our third mRNA vaccine doses in the near future, as will many people. If you haven’t had shots 1 and 2 yet, or haven’t had your Influenza shot yet, or have children eligible for COVID-19 shots, then I very highly recommend getting that taken care of ASAP.
I happen to have many years experience doing Infectious Disease Research: I helped put five antiviral drugs on the market. Speaking as somebody who knows the science, let me assure you that the mRNA vaccines are among the safest and most effective drugs ever to have existed.
All the bad things people claim these vaccines might do to you? The Virus does far worse! In every wave of the pandemic before the Delta variant, fewer than 20% of reported US deaths were under age 45. In September 2021 over 40% of reported US deaths were under age 45! Nearly all of those younger people who died thought they didn’t need the vaccines because they were young. The huge shift in age distribution was because older people were much less likely to decline the vaccines.
Good for you! We got ours a few weeks back. The booster kicked my butt! Chills, dizziness, nausea, headache, tired, couldn’t lift my arm etc. But after 2 days all side effects were gone! Feeling pretty good about it. I might have had enhanced effects because I got my flu shot 4 days before. Needless to say I recommend it to everyone! Congrats to you and Krissy!
Matthew, we’ve vaccinated nine hundred and sixteen thousand people here in Maine so far. We’ve had just two hundred and fifty eight breakthrough cases that resulted in those individuals being hospitalised, none in severe condition. And none of them died.
The booster is being distributed by age group in my little corner of Canada. The 80+ crowd will be eligible at the end of this month. I expect my age group (50+) should have a chance at it early in the new year.
And our Federal government just approved the Pfizer shot for 5 to 11-year-olds. That should start pretty soon, which makes me happy.
I felt very fortunate to get my Moderna booster 2 weeks ago. As mentioned above, it kicked my tail for 48 hours. But now I feel as bulletproof as one can, and that’s great, because I’m going to visit my brother and his 4 children this coming week.
I got mine last week. Had every side effect in the book; it basically steamrollered the next day, but I had planned for that possibility.
Still SO worth it. Knowing I am probably not going to give my 80 year old father the disease that kills him for Christmas: priceless.
Just scheduled my booster for tomorrow afternoon.
Was able to get a Pfizer/BioNTech booster last month because I’m diabetic.
As to the equine de-wormer, I read a day or two ago on The Economist that it had a positive effect on some people because they likely had parasites (they were in countries with pretty high rates of parasitic infection) and the drug cured that. So nothing to do with Covid-19 after all.
Like Matthew, I have a background in infectious disease research. Ditto to everything he said!
I was supposed to get my booster last week but, alas, got a (non-Covid, non-flu) virus and had to postpone. Looking forward to being able to get boosted. And, yes, I’ll still take precautions like masking after that.
SO got his this week, #1 Son and I are getting ours tomorrow. (We’re in the group that was already eligible for boosters.) But I saw that news pass through my feed yesterday morning, passed it to #2 Son, and he scheduled an appointment immediately for Wednesday morning – he wanted to give himself the long weekend in case he reacts, he’s at a newish job and doesn’t have much PTO accrued yet. But still! And he’s needle-adverse, so if he can, others can. (A very pretty airman made sure he kept his overreaction to shots in check with his first; it’s been easier since then.)
I had the two doses of the Pfizer vaccine in April and May, and had only a slight soreness on my arm and was a little tired for part of a day. I got the Pfizer booster on Wednesday, and had flu-like symptoms for most of two days, including a fever, extreme fatigue, muscle soreness overall, and a bit of nausea, as well as feeling like my arm had been punched by a boxer. I don’t regret it at all, as it’s well worth it, but past reactions (or lack of them) are no guarantee that a booster won’t hit hard. Obviously, your mileage may vary.
I got boosted yesterday as well.
Got my booster the end of September. I’m old, 70, and jumped on it ASAP. I’ll get boosted every time an expert says I should, to infinity and beyond…
I got my Pfizer booster last month. Welcome to the club! I kicked my butt for about 12 hours but it was well worth it!
I got my Pfizer booster on October 22, six months to the day after I got the second shot in the original series. My spouse got their Pfizer booster on October 3, also six months to the day after getting the second shot. Our daughter and son-in-law have both gotten their boosters, and our son has an appointment for his this week.
In our case, it is partly because none of us wants to get sick, and partly because we have a six-week-old granddaughter, who has some antibodies that crossed the placenta before she was born but who is not fully protected. We are all hoping hard that by the time she is six months old, the vaccines will have been approved for the six-months-to-two-years age bracket, but in the meantime, we all need to be hyper-vigilant about avoiding any possible way that she might get infected.
Thanks to all who are able to for getting vaccinated and boostered – the more who do that, the safer things will be for folks like my granddaughter who are not able (at this point, at least) to receive the vaccine.
As a school teacher, I got my booster the first day it was available more than a month ago. I had a bit more of a reaction with the booster than I did with the first two doses of Pfizer, but I was still glad to get it!
It’s gonna be a while before I get my booster shot. Here in The Netherlands, we were a lot slower to start vaccinating. (Though eventually slightly more succesful,)
So the need for booster shots is just appearing. They’re rolling them out now for the elderly and healthcare workers, the first two groups to get the vaccine as well.
I expect to be able to make an appointment for mine somewhere in february or march. Or maybe they’ll just ask us to visit the places that are currently open without appointment for people. who haven’t gotten their first yet by that time.
Anyway, I’m getting it when I can. And I fully expect it to kick my ass for two days. That’s what the first two jabs did!
Good.
Now if we can just get at least one shot into the arms of the rest of the world, and bring down the other term in the risk factor, we can perhaps get this under control before the next pandemic arrives.
The arms of the rest of the world … there’s an image to work with.
I’ve been boostered since mid-September, but I am in a risk group that would indicate that early date (I’m also a teacher, so I was fully vaccinate back in March.) Indeed, I may be one of the most vaccinated people in the US. My rheumatologist had me take a Moderna booster (since that was my original vaccine) at a time when these hadn’t exactly been approved yet, so the clinic associated with her office just gave me a third full dose instead of the half dose that’s now recommended. So there we have it, I am extra vaccinated and pretty happy with that too.
go boosters! and thank the stars no-one in the family was infected during the florida airport snafu, returning from last year’s jojo cruise..
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2020/03/15/my-first-associated-press-photo-credit/
Zach and I are scheduled for ours the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We live in a blue dot in the middle of GA, so it was the earliest we could get an appointment around here. We’ll be getting our flu vaccine at the same time, since the CDC says we can.
Good for you. Was it the booster that conferred the ability to raise one eyebrow? (Something to which I’ve long aspired, and long envied in other people and, more annoyingly, most dogs of my acquaintance.)
I’ve had the (Brand M) booster with no ill effect beyond the usual (for me) 24 hours of gluteal necrosis (dead ass). Got it at the same supermarket as the first two shots, where the nice pharmacist tells clients, “you don’t have to wait around for 15 minutes of observation, go ahead and do your shopping–we can hear the PA in here and we just listen for “cleanup, aisle four, shopper down.”
Anyone who’s unfortunate enough to have had measles beyond early childhood should be aware that it can induce something called “immune amnesia”–basically, it reboots your immune system to the “factory default” settings and erases any prior gained immunities. Here’s a good “general public” article:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211112-the-people-with-immune-amnesia
The NIH website has links to more scholarly ones. As someone at risk in general due to chronic TMB (Too Many Birthdays), I’m getting an MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) booster–my doc says “maybe not necessary, but can’t hurt.”
And if you get it in New York, dude, they pay you $100!
Granted, my wife and I got it as soon as we were eligible and didn’t wait around until they offered incentives, because our incentive was…we want to live.
Glad it was easy, even in Chowderheadland.
Have my booster scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. And my son’s second shot just in time to allow us to bring him to DisCon.
I thought you couldn’t get the booster shots until you were 65? What I’d heard was “Get booster shots if you’re 65 or older”, and I’m not quite there yet I figured I’d wait the few months until I am….
Done. Just the usual sore arm.
Discon is saying no vaccine card, no admission and no mask, you’re out of there. I hope they mean it.
::cue Rabid Puppies going rabid::
My only concern is, will they take the flimsy cardboard vaccination records NY State issues? I’ve been carrying mine in my wallet, and I think I’ll a new one by the time I get my booster shot….
Got my Moderna booster Nov, 5, gratefully. Was sick for a day, which is great considering the possible alternatives.
I’d have happily accepted payment for getting it, but that wasn’t on offer here in MA, where we are expected to have some g.d. common sense, and be grateful for vaccines against potentially deadly diseases.
timliebe:
Who can get boosters has been updated. I was waiting for the new standard myself, as I had not previously been eligible in Ohio for a booster.
Re: vaccination cards — I’ve found generally speaking that a picture of my vaccination card on my phone has been acceptable most places.
As for people being upset about having to wear a mask, if they’re mad about it, they can stay home. Several people upset about DragonCon’s mask-and-vaxx policy this year flounced from that event in a huff, and the 42,000 people who could actually follow directions without pitching a fit did not appear to miss them much, if at all.
I refer to mine as a Pfollow-up.
Thanks for the heads-up on booster updates!
I got my [Moderna] booster three weeks ago, after getting my J&J in March. (When Brigham and Women’s Hospital emails you out of the blue, asking if you want to be in the vaccination queue, you say “Yes!”) The J&J gave me a few hours of chills and five minutes of brain fog (I learned: You never want that.) but the Moderna was nothing.
(I got the MMR when I learned it existed; I’ve never had mumps or rubella.)
Hi, Lis!
Got my jab as soon as my surgeon and oncologist deemed it safe for me to do so. Got the flu jab the same day. Result: two aching shoulders. Get jabbed! I don’t need anyone spreading a virus trying to do more to help me die.
Too bad these immunizations didn’t include Bill Gates’ nanobots. If they had, we wouldn’t need vaccination cards. Airport security and other places that require proof of vaccination could just wave one of the microchip readers they use at animal shelters over us to determine vaccination status, and there would be no counterfeit cards around.
Got my booster yesterday. Went with Moderna for that, after Pfizer for #1 and #2.
No ill effects beyond my shoulder being sore when I slept on that side.
Just got my booster today, and my flu shot last week. Grats, fellow boostees!
How does the (Pfizer) booster side effects compare with the first two shots? Even the flu shot knocks me on my ass for a couple of days and the covid shots were no different. Do I need to plan a TV day or two afterwards again?
Done. Thank you for being the voice of reason and sanity. I appreciate your summation of the situation.
timeliebe, you can get a NYS Excelsior Pass on your phone (iPhone or Android) so you don’t have to carry around the paper as proof.
To continue what I was saying, you just have to verify your information – name, DOB, zip code, phone #, plus when you got your second shot, which vaccine, and which county.
Then you download it to your phone.
I work at a school, got boostered 1.5 months ago, thank gawd.
Had my second dose in August (doubly chunderheaded incompetent conservative government here) so not able until February. But as soon as I can. As a 74 year old youngster I figure its my responsibility to protect the aged…No reactions with either dose,
Got mine about a month ago (I work for a grocery chain, which is considered a high-risk environment).
We can’t find a booster shot for my husband (I started looking a couple of weeks ago when it was six months after his second shot). He’s having surgery for (a tiny) melanoma in 10 days, FFS! But all the online pharmacies have been booking shots for mid-December.
Until this loosening, he felt he’d be cheating (having his cancer treated only by surgery, not by radiation or other immune-affecting treatments), at least until he turns 65 (which is the day after the surgery). He thinks his Moderna coverage is still quite good, and I don’t
Our primary care doctor shrugged (even though we pay extra for a “concierge clinic.”) I shall insist that the phone “chat” with the surgeon on Monday results in a booster within a day!
Moderna booster scheduled for next month – wife’s already had hers.
regarding vaccination rates – why are the supremacists who espouse “Western enlightenment” shoving their heads somewhere dark on this issue? It makes me sad for my country
All those anti-vaxxers making death threats against Bill Gates (because nanobots in the vaccine) will have to get in line behind the vast cohort of Windows users who have legitimate beefs…
UK here, had mine a couple of weeks ago, along with my flu. One of them or the combination or the fact I’d been on antibiotics the week before wiped me out but only that evening – tired, nausea, shivering. Fine the next day apart from not being able to lift the flu arm above shoulder height – but that arm also bled when I had the jab. That cleared the next day.
Husband got both of his the next day, no side effects at all.
Wonderful! (I saw the subject line and wondered what you’d stolen! :D )
I gambled wrong and grabbed a Pfizer booster as soon as my pharmacy could figure them out; I’d have preferred Moderna, but didn’t think they’d approve mix&match any time soon. (Moderna boosters seem to get better numbers, but mostly it’s just a slightly different vaccine and broader coverage might help.)
Only symptom was a sore arm for a day and an annoying bandaid. None of the tiredness I got from the first two. On the other hand, I got the old-people version of the flu shot this year, and it left me dragging around for a couple of days. My wife had Moderna, and a bit later, but she’s now eligible.
I wrote: “No ill effects beyond my shoulder being sore when I slept on that side.”
I may have spoken too soon. I’m starting to detect a hint of joint ache.
But maybe it’s just part of being 50, rather than a booster reaction.
Good on you! Looks like I’ll get mine early to mid December (had my second shot in June and they’re requiring at least 6 months between #2 and #3 over here)
Got mine yesterday, this time the mRNA version added to the AstroZeneca mix. The history of the development of mRNA vaccines is fascinating (see https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02483-w ) even beyond the noted and justifiably lauded role of Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin.
Also got the pneumococcal vaccine earlier this week on top of the flu jab earlier this month, so as well as feeling a bit pin-cushiony, am also feeling EPIC! (Not that I’m going to get complacent mind you – masks will still be worn)
Agree with all you say; waiting to get my booster in Ontario (Canada) but sorry, I have a question:
Is that a Tor ring?
UK here – got my Pfizer booster this past Wed. Sore arm and body aches/tiredness the next day but a dose of paracetamol fixed that. Got my flu jab at the end of Oct so hopefully that’s the end of needles for this year.
Still waiting for the 5G to kick in tho…
We live in a county in north Alabama with the highest vaccination rate in the state. Unfortunately the surrounding counties have abysmal rates and the citizens come here to work and to shop. My husband and I received our third doses as soon as we could and I continue to mask when I’m out and around other people.
Pfizer #3 caused a slight amount of fatigue. If the science indicates more doses are advisable I’ll take those as well.
My doctor gave me a green light on a Pfizer booster before I turned 65 because I had cancer last year and considered immunocompromised because of it. I hear talk of people getting boosters before they’re eligible and how unfair that is to people who are, but honestly, when I got my booster a couple of months ago I was the only person at the pharmacy the whole time, including the 20 wait afterwards, so even had I not been deemed eligible by medical professionals I wasn’t bumping anyone out of line.
Other than a sore arm I had no side-effects from either of the first two shots but man, that booster hit me pretty good. Mild flu-like symptoms for a couple of days, absolutely no energy and my arm was much sorer than before.
But glad to have gotten the shot. I got a little weepy after the first two, like there was suddenly light at the end of a very long tunnel, so I really don’t get the idiots who refuse to participate and get the vaccination. Tribal cliff jumping.
You and a whole lot of my friends all got their booster shots recently, starting Friday. I had previously scheduled a booster for Friday a month ago (56 years old, diabetic), and it was just that much better when the announcement came that day that everyone was eligible.
I was at World Fantasy Convention in Montreal (which meant getting tested before going, when I arrived, and before I came home). WFC had roughly the same policy as DisCon III. Also, Montreal requires that you show your vac card (and ID) to be seated in restaurants. I felt safer there than I do going grocery shopping in Reno, near where I live, and I certainly won’t eat in any restaurants here, not with all of the Covidiots and deniers and maskless wonders about. I was quite worried transiting O’Hare on the trip home, for it was very crowded and fully of maskless people, but I kept my N95 mask up and did the best I could to stay away from people. I guess I got a slight bit of karmic repayment with the flight attendant let me move from my crowded row next to a below-the-nose masker to a row with an empty seat next to me.
Unfortunately, we found out after WFC that someone “ghosting” the convention (not a member, hung out in the lobby areas) tested positive for COVID-19 post-con. I self-isolated for a week after getting home and took two home tests two days apart (negative) in time for me to go get boosted.
I will be going to Loscon 47 (which is also Westercon 73 this year) over Thanksgiving, and then taking a three-week train trip from the West Coast to DC (then on to Chicago and New Orleans post-con). I feel safer being boosted, and I want both Loscon/Westercon and Worldcon to enforce their mask and vaccine mandates.
My mother and I will be getting a booster shot in Jan. I will probably get a flu shot too.
I have that as well, but a lot of places don’t consider that adequate proof of vaccination….
…Because – Hackers! Teh Intarwebz! Voter Fraud! Or something like that.
I started carrying my paper card again after the third time my Excelsior Pass was turned down as proof of vaccination.
@JanOZ: “We live in a county in north Alabama with the highest vaccination rate in the state. ”
Huntsville area? If so, not surprising what with all the NASA types.
John Scalzi – supporting the right to bare arms.
Spousal Unit and I were boosted several weeks ago, Beautiful Daughter is scheduled and Handsome Grandsons had their first dose a week ago. Life is good, let’s keep it that way.
@Jon H
Yes we live in Huntsville and in addition to the Marshall Space Flight Center we have many federal government contract workers who are employed by the DoD.
I got a lot of mileage out of my J&J one-shot, delivered to me in March. A family reunion where I was inadvertently hugged by folks who I strongly suspected were not vaxxed, based on their voting records, and a class reunion with similar events.
That J&J was a Honda Civic, getting me through some dicey times, and “delivering” me through to good health. But even dependable cars break down, so I traded it in (or, rather “boosted” it, if you will) for a more “Modern(a)” model (get it?). Now I’m back on the road again, and making a point to be extra cautious of who I allow within my personal space.
Double vaxxed but waiting on the booster until the semester is over. With nearly 100 students, grading and other teaching-related activities, I don’t have the 48 hours I’d need to rest while the shot does its thing.
Luckily, I’m teaching remotely and keep close to home, so no chance of infecting anyone.
Will go in for jab three just as soon as grades are in.
I do appreciate my college’s hard line on vaccines. Students are being dropped and instructors are being fired for refusing to get vaccinated.
They allow for religious and ADA-related exemptions and have given ample time and reminders of deadlines; this way, career excuse-makers and whiny Karens and Kens can’t cry “discrimination! when consequences come down.
And oh boy are there consequences.
As of the beginning of this month, students in in-person classes were administratively dropped without the possibility of reinstatement.
Full-time instructors got treated to stages of disciplinary action while part-timers were fired immediately.
If you were a covidiotic adjunct instructor, you were gone and lost rehiring rights and progress up the salary advancement column. The union couldn’t help you in any way other than to monitor the sacking to make sure that things were done fair and proper.
Of course, some students and instructors got caught in the crossfire because of glitches with the application through which we were to submit proof of vaccination. The college is taking swift action to rectify that situation.
Overall, though, I like that covidiocy is being stomped out hard and quick round here. :)
3rd Moderna as soon as I was eligible. My spouse got 3rd Pfizer when eligible.
I utterly fail to understand the folks who won’t protect others and themselves.
As for the harsh college firings and student ejections that Sarah Marie noted, well of course, like any long haired student I believe in freedom…
Yet a college, by definition, also believes in documenting and footnoting, comparing and contrasting.
So if any teachers can’t be bothered comparing and looking for documents such as newspapers, if they blindly believe in the world of social media, regardless of the contrasting real world, then I have no sympathy. None.
@just different, I didn’t get much if anything in the way of side effects from yesterday’s Pfizer booster. Some discomfort in my shoulder, but I got the shot in the shoulder with the metal plate in it, so ….
(And you’d think that plate would make it easier for the nanobots to make me magnetic, too. /s)
OTOH, I got no side effects from Pfizer 1 and only mild effects from Pfizer 2. If you’ve got a track record of side effects, better go ahead and take some time off.
I would put vaccines in the top three greatest human inventions of all time (the wheel, and agriculture rounding out the rest.)
I don’t understand vaccine hesitancy. I am also in a low immunization area. When I ask people why they don’t want it, I generally don’t get a reason better than “I’m going to wait and see.” Or “It’s not for me.”
I suspect some poor psych-ops on the part of the government is partially to blame. If I bring a plate of cookies into the office and say “Help yourself.” They will all be eaten. But if I say “These special cookies are good for you. Everyone must eat one or else.” Those cookies will be regarded with suspicion.
So, yeah. Good for you on the booster, and thank you for the reminder so that I can check my eligibility and go get mine.
To clear up an error you made, ivermectin was designed for humans, and the guys that made it won a Nobel prize. It’s anti-viral properties are well known. How useful it is against Covid is not something I know. It appears to be controversial and political which is unfortunate. Over a billion doses have been given, so it’s pretty safe. If I had a severe case of Covid, I’d want it based on the “can’t hurt, might help” doctrine as long as my Dr. agreed.