When it comes to technology, I’m an early adapter. I usually get the newest tech that interests me as soon as it is available, unless the upgrade is so minimal it’s not worth it. (I skipped the iPhone 11, for example, since the only upgrade was minimal and mostly to the camera). So I’m not afraid of new things or averse to change. But when it comes to putting something in my body, I have no desire to be Neil Armstrong on that. As far as the COVID 19 vaccines go, I’m willing to wait a while.
I should preface this by admitting that I don’t really miss socializing. My wife and I have two kids, ages 3 and 2, so it’s not like we were living the jet-set life anyway. Staying at home is my preferred mode. When I was single, I was out almost every night. But I’m not single, so having friends over is a much more appealing option, and we have exercised that option.
But it’s not just by lack of desire to hit the bars or the fear of some doorknob licking fetish returning that has me waiting to get the COVID 19 vaccine, it’s that it is so new.
Operation Warp Speed was a miracle, and one we desperately needed. It makes me proud to be an American that our country did it and it yielded multiple vaccines that work. And I have no doubt that they work. I just don’t know what else, if anything, they do.
Emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration is different from FDA approval. For the elderly, like my father (80), it makes perfect sense to get the shots. He has lung cancer (currently under control, thankfully) and got the shots. He had no adverse reactions and no hesitation about doing it. If my wife and I decide to have another kid, what would having an mRNA vaccine in our veins do to that baby? Nothing? Probably. But we don’t know yet.
