So. A lot of people are asking questions like:
How did Chet get the vaccine so early?
Why did Chet get the vaccine and my grandmother still has to wait?
I see Chet and some of my friends flashing their vaccination cards on social media and going out to eat — who is letting them skip the line?
Where is Chet getting the hookup to get himself and his friends vaccinated?
Listen. Chet is probably selfish and dumb and he needs to be vaccinated.
A side-point real quick: asking someone how they got the vaccine early is none of your business because people don’t owe you a conversation about their medical history. It could be that Chet pulled some strings because he knows people, or it could be that Chet has a pre-existing condition that puts him at high risk that he hasn’t told you about because he doesn’t want anyone to know. If someone you know got the vaccine early, let them volunteer the information on how they did it. Otherwise, you’re basically asking “oh what disease do you have?”
Anyway, the vaccine rollout sucks, because this is the United States, and we don’t do anything without a high level of messery. We have 50 states with 50 different plans, so when you’re mad at Chet in New Jersey for jumping the line because your Grandma in Nebraska still can’t get one, you’re mad at two completely different administrations. Right now, I could drive across the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan into New Jersey, give my friend’s Jersey City address, and tell Dr. Pandy with the Vacky that I’m a smoker, and they’ll give me a shot.
If you want to be upset, be upset at the system, not at the individual person, because if someone looks for a way to get their shot early, they should get their shot! There are doses going to waste. A doctor was fired because he took the rest of an open vial that was he was going to have to throw away and used it to vaccinate his family. The system is imperfect and poorly thought out, and I think a lot of people who are upset aren’t looking at the picture as a whole.
Vaccinations should work like airport boarding. Priority Boarding is called, and all the Priority people who are in the area go get on the plane. Then, Section 1 is called and they get on the plane. If someone from Priority comes up, they just get on the plane. Then, Section 2 is called and they get on the plane. If someone else from Priority shows up, they get on the plane. That’s how the rollout should work, but y’all want everybody from Priority to get on the plane even if some of them are still in the parking lot while Section 1 and 2 just stand around and wait.
There’s no “fair” way to make sure everybody gets vaccinated in the proper order. When you have the opportunity to get your shot, go get your shot. If you’re the type of person who wants to find a loophole to get your shot before other people do, then go get your shot too. Truth be told, I want Chet to get vaccinated because he never stayed at home anyway, so now he’s less of a danger to the public. All those people who couldn’t stop travelling and partying? I want them vaccinated! As soon as possible!
Nobody wants to say it out loud, but the fastest way to make the country safer is to keep the dumbest, most selfish people from spreading it so quickly. I’m sorry Granny has to stay in the house a few months longer, but she’s not the reason we’re in this mess. She stayed home and did her part. It feels counterintuitive to give people the vaccine who didn’t stay home and suffer with the responsible folks, but the vaccine isn’t a reward. It might feel like you deserve the shot because you did your best to keep the pandemic under the control, but it’s not actually a prize for good service to your community. The vaccine is a safety measure, and those people looking for loopholes because they never stopped partying anyway? Those people are unsafe and we need to be protected from them.
(Also: when your time comes for whatever reason, age bracket or medical history or profession or whatever, just go get it. You’re not more noble or responsible for delaying it because you feel others deserve it more. Every shot is a step closer to herd immunity.)
facebook.com/SoLetsTalkAbout/
twitter.com/RafiDAngelo
Email: rafi@soletstalkabout.com
Venmo: Rafi-DAngelo
CashApp: $RafiDAngelo
paypal.me/soletstalkabout
Leave a Reply