On Getting Vaccinated

On 3 March, a 4:42 a.m. text announced: “Your COVID-19 vaccination appointment is at 1:30 p.m.”

The text (and an email) directed me to fill out an online medical questionnaire: nope, hadn’t been vaccinated, wasn’t pregnant or likely to be, and had no known allergies to shots. I read the warnings for Pfizer and Moderna.

I arrived around 1:15. Plenty of cars. Plenty of soldiers, fire department personnel, and volunteers to make sure I stayed put to answer questions before joining the long, physically-distanced line inside the main entrance. The vaccines (J&J) were late. Suddenly looked like a long wait. Felt mildly disappointed it was the J&J vaccine, but would take what I got.

Once the vaccine doses arrived, the line moved quickly, with twelve stations rapidly vaccinating folks. Volunteers and fellow vaccinatees were all pleasant. Mild pinch, then I was directed to the 15-minute waiting area as a precaution. (There’s also a 30-minute area.) Seats were disinfected the moment anyone left. Briefly felt a little weak and tired. (Power of suggestion, plus usual post-radio-show fatigue.) Quickly forgotten.

It was all carefully organized. No unknowns, no ambiguities, no unnecessary delays, once vaccine arrived. Later a friend called, impressed by “how fast Biden is moving.” The J&J vac had arrived in NM Tuesday, and he’d gotten a shot in Gadsden Wednesday. Health Department, Governor, and our community deserve our praise and appreciation.

It was a non-event, a point worth making to folks who are worried.

As scientists have said consistently, “Take the vaccine you’re offered.” My mild disappointment about the J&J vaccine is not uncommon, but all three vaccines protect against serious COVID-19 cases. Extremely well. J&J’s testing was more recent. It’s efficacy rate against mild cases is 72% (flu vaccines=20-60%); but mild cases aren’t the real concern; and the figures may be skewed because some testing was done in South Africa when more infectious and vac-resistant strains of the virus were about. Whether or not the Pfizer or Moderna does better against mild cases seems an open question.

The J&J requires just one shot because a dose is stronger. Pfizer and Moderna are sometimes effective after just one shot, but efficacy is more certain with two.

I will not soon change my behavior. I wore a mask more for others than for myself, and because it’s the right thing to do. Nothing’s changed. Vaccinated people may still carry enough virus in the nose to infect others with a maskless sneeze; and full immunity occurs two weeks after the shot.

We owe it to vulnerable folks; friends, lovers, and neighbors; and local businesses to avoid contributing to higher numbers here. Keeping numbers low can save lives and help expedite re-openings.

Greg Abbott is nutty to let his lust for political popularity lead him to abandon the mask requirement early. It may turn out okay, given the ramped-up vaccinating (though Texas is slower than most states); but it’s callous and just plain dumb. I also hope no one listens to the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, calling J&J “morally compromised” because in creating the vaccine “Johnson & Johnson used cells derived decades ago from an abortion.” (Last December, the Vatican approved vaccines “that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.”) What a sad irony if following that silly order cost even one death!

Please register; get vaccinated; but don’t send your brain on vacation.

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[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 7 March 2021, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG’s website. A related radio commentary will air during the week on KRWG (90.7 FM) and KTAL-LP. (101.5 FM – http://www.lccommunityradio.org/), and is available on demand on KRWG’s site.]

[NOTE:  Just read (Sunday afternoon) on thehill.com, a piece headlined "world on brink of fourth wave of coronavirus.  Of course, I'm hoping it's unduly alarmist, and the models showing a big increase in cases (which increased worldwide this week after six straight weeks declining) are flawed; but so far, the dire models and predictions have been more or less correct, and the "Don't worry about it!" message of Mr. Trump and others has been a badly-cooked pot of wishful thinking. So "hoping for" ain't quite "betting on" yet.  Widespread vaccination, experts say, is the only way we move from riding this tiger to driving it, and our neighbor, Texas, seems to be screwing that up too.]

[I’m no immunologist, so don’t rely on me for detailed scientific information, but I’ve read in several pretty authoritative places what I say about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Here’s a NY Times article on what the numbers mean. Efficacy depends on the details of a trial, such as where it took place. Johnson & Johnson ran trials at three sites: in the United States, Latin America and South Africa. The overall efficacy was lower than than in the United States alone. One reason for that appears to be that the South Africa trial took place after a new variant had swept across that country. Called B.1.351, the variant has mutations that enable it to evade some of the antibodies produced by vaccination. The variant didn’t make the vaccine useless, however. Far from it: In South Africa, Johnson & Johnson’s efficacy was 64 percent. ]

[My vaccination was a non-event, in terms of fear, pain, reaction, etc.; but I’ve had several friends for whom the second shot, with Moderna or Pfizer, is a problem for a day or so, so folks should be ready for that.]