Armed and Ready…

…so jab on MacDuff. And damned be him that first cries ‘Hold, enough!’

Six months have passed since I became fully vaccinated, and since I am 65 years of age I am eligible for the Pfizer booster. My appointment is this afternoon.

I have some friends who think I am making a mistake. I am being a lab rat for an experimental vaccine that uses new Messenger RNA technology that has unknown long term effects. The vaccine’s efficacy is questionable. With the number of high profile so called ‘breakthrough cases’ among fully vaccinated celebrities and politicians and sports stars, they have a point. And I’m trusting the government’s advice which may or may not be in my best interest. Given the proven efficiency of how government works in general (EDD’s fraudulent Covid payouts are at $22 billion and counting) I can see how someone might not be in a hurry to take the government’s advice.

Other friends applaud my decision as being best for me personally and for society. They maintain the vaccine is safe and effective and will either keep me from getting sick altogether or insure that any Covid I contract will be a mild case. I am doing my part to protect the vulnerable because vaccinated people are far less likely to spread the virus even if they get Covid or are asymptomatic carriers.

I’m not going to argue either way. I’m going to get the shot because of the three best ways to control people and get them to act a certain way: Fear, Guilt and Reward. Some religions and governments are masters of using these in combination to keep the rabble in line.

Here is how the big three are working for me.

Fear: I don’t want to get sick and wind up in a hospital dying while hooked up to a respirator. Anything I can do to make that less likely is worth trying. Supposedly getting vaccinated makes hospitalization and/or death from Covid almost impossible.

Guilt: If I don’t get the shot, I MIGHT be more likely to spread the virus to someone I care about deeply. If Stoker got sick because I gave it to her I would feel awful. If she got seriously sick and I could have prevented it by getting vaccinated I couldn’t live with myself. Ditto my parents. And it is easy to extend this guilt trip to strangers; no civilized person wants to cause harm to another (although there are some politicians I wouldn’t mind spraying a few virus laced water droplets at with a big, mask free sneeze).

Reward: This one isn’t working as well as I had hoped. Being vaccinated did get me to France and its hotels and restaurants, but it didn’t free me from having to take a Covid test to fly home. And if doesn’t seem to allow me to go mask free everywhere, despite the CDC initially saying fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear them. Many places require masks or pressure you to put them on whether you are vaccinated or not.

Stoker got her Moderna booster two weeks ago. Here is what she texted to me the day after while I was at work counting nuts: “Hot, red, painful swollen arm, headache, intense fatigue. The booster is a lot worse than the initial jabs. Oh and a backache”. It took her about 36 hours to feel better and her arm was sore much longer.

So I’m expecting Friday to be kind of miserable. Especially since I am again trusting the CDC, which says it is perfectly OK to get my Senior Dose Flu Vaccine at the same time. Two shots, with who knows what interactions. Jab on MacDuff!