Roll Your Sleeves Up For America! (J&J and my aching arm)

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. – Romans 12:4-6
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. – 1 John 4:11

Note: part of this post ran as “Vaccine Holdouts” in the Raleigh News and Observer. So props to the newspaper for – hopefully – getting me back into the local News/Opinion mix.

Okay, so I will say this out loud now. “Ouch! That really hurt!” It didn’t seem polite or appropriate to whine or to say “ouch!” at the time. Not when these wonderful health care providers are working so hard to get as many people as possible vaccinated and in the shortest amount of time.

Also, and I’m going to say this out loud too, “Shame on you if you are a vaccine hold-out!” Scheduling, obviously, takes time and coordination. But, eventually, everyone will have the opportunity. Plus, the simple science of the equation is clear; the higher the percentage of people being inoculated then the greater the effectiveness of the intervention.

This nation has been paralyzed by a minuscule, microscopic virus; the whole world has. COVID takes people down regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender, or point of view. Your politics matter not one whit when it comes to public health. So demonstrate some public-spirited sense of community, be a person who puts others ahead of yourself, become a part of the solution rather than one who exacerbates the problem, roll up your sleeve, do the right thing, and get yourself some vaccine already.

Impressive logistics:

Rebekah and I left the house at 10:00, arrived near the PNC arena at 10:45, got lost, found the “vaccine” entrance at 10:50, checked in for our 11:00 slot at 10:53, received our shots at 11:15, were released from “observation” around 11:30, and were seated at Wake Forest’s Village Deli for lunch by 12:15.

Now that is some impressive public health.

I couldn’t count exactly, but there were probably 12-15 lines of cars rolling up at the tents for another round of paperwork and a big fat needle.

Kudos – mega-kudos – to the entire operation. Everyone was courteous, everyone gave smiles, everyone treated everyone with patience and respect, everyone seemed to “get” the gravity of the situation and the importance of pulling together to make the solution work.