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Vaccine Envy has preoccupied me in the past week. I'm not proud of this emotion, and it is one I am unfamiliar with. I have always been content and appreciative of my "place" in my community. I am grateful for having a loving family and supportive friends; people to be "quiet" with and people to have fun with. I know I'm fortunate for being secure financially and having the resources needed to stay healthy and well. Therefore it has surprised me how much I am tired of hearing of others' good fortunate in securing a vaccine appointment. I am happy for them but also very frustrated at how long it will take me, and my son to be eligible in our state for the Covid vaccine. I think if I was a young adult or younger adult, perhaps it would bother me less, knowing that I am at the back of the line. But being in the 55-64 decade means that I have family and friends older than me who have been vaccinated, and that in many other parts of the country, Governors have modified eligibility to allow people my age and younger to register for appointments. Whereas my state, Maryland, has not, and doesn't appear likely to do so. I feel as though other people are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am still stuck deep in the tunnel. I feel as though they have landed on the "get out of jail for free" card on the Monopoly board, and my roll of die isn't getting me there. I was all for making health care providers and essential front line workers and those over 75 and then 65 the top priorities. For 6 weeks, we've been prioritizing these groups and there has been huge progress. But there is no indication of when they will actually get to the under 65 population, when so many other states have opened the doors. And it seems like this is the topic that everyone is talking about - how to find "left over vaccines" at pharmacies at the end of the day; how to use your health conditions or employment status to your benefit. We all know young folks whose work is completely virtual who have snagged appointments based on employer. Trying to be patient is hard!
March 19, 2021