Get the Shot

(Editor's note: To date, 140,969,663 people, or 42 percent of the U.S. population, have received COVID-19 shots. Overall, 87.7 million people, or 26 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated. So far, 290.1 million doses have been distributed in the U.S. Of those, 231 million, or 79 percent, of the doses have been used. In New Mexico, 33.57 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.)

By Dan Klein

This was a column I hoped I would not have to write, but deep down inside knew I would. Why won’t more of you get the COVID vaccine?

Most cops I know, retired and still working, have told me that they will not get the COVID vaccine. They give me a variety of reasons, most leaning toward they don’t trust the government. Which is weird because, as police officers, they are the government. This type of thinking comes from getting into a police car and turning Rush Limbaugh, or Sean Hannity on for the next eight hours. It’s somewhat like the North Koreans did to our POWs back in the 1950s. They would play propaganda nonstop at the POWs for hours upon hours and eventually some of the prisoners would break and start believing what they were hearing.

Except in this case, it’s voluntary indoctrination. These officers turn on Limbaugh, Levine, Hannity etc and they believe all they hear without hesitation or question.

I wish they would turn off their radios and cable news and just listen to their doctors. You know, the same doctors that they trust when are experiencing a heart attack or stroke. The same doctors that they allow to pump chemotherapy into their veins for any number of cancers. Yet these officers, and their families, now don’t trust a vaccine recommended by their doctors. Weird.

I have elderly neighbors who refused the vaccine and are in their fifth week of the COVID embrace. They are exhausted and I truly fear that they will never get back to their vibrant lifestyle. They tell me they are so tired they have to force themselves to eat and drink, yet they get no rest when they sleep. This has gone on for five weeks and does not appear to be getting better.

I asked them if after they recover will they get one of the vaccines? Not surprisingly they said, NO! We don’t know what’s in it and don’t trust the government. I asked them if their adult children are vaccinated and they said, NO, they don’t trust the government either. On the flip side, they do trust the government enough to tell their adult children not to come around so they don’t get ill. Weirder still.

I don’t know if this would fit into Darwin’s theory of evolution, but this type of thinking has me wondering if the not so bright are doomed to die off.

I have another elderly friend who jumped at the chance to get vaccinated, but his evangelical wife has refused. This is strange because the wife gets a flu shot every year. She tells me that her minister says the COVID vaccines are different, and God doesn’t want them getting the vaccine. It’s all fake anyway. And yes, the minister came down with COVID, but still, he doesn’t believe it’s real.

This friend ended our conversation with this gem, “I will let everyone else put this government poison in them. If it works, I will get covered by their herd immunity.” The human race is insane.

Here is my experience with the Moderna vaccine. The first shot was done by some great people at Lovelace who ran the clinic. From the time I got in line to the time I walked out it took about 45 minutes. The shot itself was quick and painless, no big deal. The only side effect was tiredness that night and a really good night sleep that night.

Now after two weeks, I am told that I would have around an 80% defense against COVID. Don’t be an idiot, keep your distance, wear face masks and avoid crowds still. You don’t have full protection until the second shot, be patient and wait for it.

The second shot was again done by Lovelace and was fast and painless, just like the first one. That night I felt no different. The next day I did feel a little achy, no big deal. It started with achiness in my shoulders, then my hips, then my arms, then my legs. It’s like the vaccine was traveling around my body building defenses everywhere it went.

By the next day, back to normal. I found the side effects to be very minor and a hell of a lot better than getting COVID.

It has been three weeks since my second shot and we just got together with friends who are also completely vaccinated. Life begins to get normal again. I still will not sit down with someone who has not been vaccinated, I have 95% protection, but I don’t want to risk being the 5% who can still get a mild case of COVID, just because others are selfish.

Vaccine’s work. You are already full of them. Get the shot, don’t be selfish.