Sunday Morning Coffee: February 21, 2021

I got the Covid-19 vaccine last weekend. All healthcare workers, even if they’re not working directly with Covid patients are now able to sign up in Massachusetts. I’m a dietitian, so I’m not considered Covid-facing, but I became eligible earlier in February. I signed up through the state’s website, and I found the actual process of getting the vaccine to run pretty smoothly. There were long lines, but they moved along, and there were markers posted at regular intervals to keep people socially distanced. My arm was super sore for about a day, but other than that, there weren’t any bumps in the road. I’ve heard the second dose, which I’ll get later in March, can cause a few more side effects like chills, fever, and body aches.

There were some mixed emotions in the experience, mostly feeling guilty for signing up when lots of folks who are not yet eligible are anxious to get vaccinated, too. I had a call with a therapist colleague who also felt this guilt, so I’m imagining others feel it, too. Where I’ve landed with this is that we need to get things moving and roll out this vaccine as smoothly and efficiently as possible, so when the public health officials in charge of the process ask us to sign up, I sign up. I’m hopeful we can keep things moving, but it doesn’t feel right that grocery store employees aren’t yet eligible. That feels like a major misstep and points to the equity issues in healthcare access and distribution.