The power of a few badly placed news stories...
I spent last night talking to my 90yo grandmother, who has been taking all this very seriously and following vaccine news anxiously. “Well, I don’t know if I want to get the vaccine now...” “grandma, why?” “People are having bad reactions to it!” (Me: Face palm) “you mean that one nurse in Alaska that had the allergic reaction?” “Yes!” “Grandma, anyone could have an allergic reaction to anything anytime... you get annual flu vaccines, steroid injections every couple months, people are poking you with things all the time! Have you ever had a reaction to anything??” “Well, no. I’m allergic to scallops though.” ... ... “Grandma, there are no scallops in the corona vaccine. Talk to your doctor and see what he thinks, but I think it’s important and I’m going to be getting one as soon as I can and I think you should to!”
I must admit, I originally had reservations about how fast this has come together... but in large part due to the information and banter on the thread about the vaccine programs, I’ve become very comfortable with the safety and efficacy of these efforts and am ready for my jab.
There’s going to be such an uphill battle in communication though among people who aren’t as connected on this issue. I also spoke with an aunt of mine who is very pro vaccine, but is confused at “all of these different ones and maybe I should wait for the best one instead of taking the first one”... mainly, again, based on news reports of ‘issues’ with the Pfizer vaccine.