Author Archives: Steve Mays

Immunity

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Barb got her second COVID vaccination (Pfizer) this afternoon. I’ve been trying to think of a more anticipated event in the 40+ years we’ve been together. Our wedding was a big deal but I think we were both more excited about the after-party. But that wasn’t a life-or-death moment. Given our age and other factors, getting COVID could put us in the hospital and/or kill us. So we hunkered down. Way down. Rarely indoors away from home. Always wearing masks. Avoiding friends and family.

That last part has been really hard on Barb. She never complained but it was really hard on her not to spend time with her sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, and all the “littles.” And her countless friends. But she did it. She did it for the people she loves and cares about and she did it because she loves life and wants hers back without the fear of a deadly virus putting her on a ventilator and maybe leaving her crippled for life.

For a long time the idea of an effective vaccine was just a tiny speck of light at the end of an endless, very dark tunnel. But the scientists came through and gave us a couple (so far) of vaccines. And good ones, that will keep us from getting really sick and winding up in the hospital. And the wait began.

As a former nurse, Barb appreciated the need for health care workers to get vaccinated first. And people in nursing homes. You know the story. Next in line were people over the age of 65 and those with health conditions that put them at higher risk from the virus. Hey, that’s us! So we put our names on the lists and waited for the call and checked our email.

Most of Barb’s friends have been vaccinated and some of her family. And in a week or so, this second shot will do its thing with/to her immune system and she can slowly and carefully take her life back. It’ll still be masks and social distancing (god, how I hate that term). She’ll be able sit indoors with her (vaccinated) sister and talk and plan their trips to Florida. She can hang out with her pals (the vaccinated ones) in the garden club. She can be with people besides me (and our two dogs). Truly, I can’t imagine what this has been like for her.

The vaccine has taken on an almost magical aura. A few drops of a colorless liquid from a tiny vial that changes… everything. Sure, there will be “variants” and “mutations” and the guys in lab will have to find ways to tweak the vaccines. And they will. But today… today Barb has as much protection as modern medicine can provide. And I have never been more grateful.

The Coming Technology Boom

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“Politics is grim but science is working”

I’ve long believed technology would be our salvation. We’re not going to become better, more enlightened people. But our tech will get better and better, despite the efforts to “make America great again.” This NYT op-ed reinforced that (and made me feel good). Like all human progress, this will come with difficulties:

“What happens to people who work on ranches if labs take a significant share of the market? The political difficulties will be complicated by the fact that the people who will profit from these high-tech industries tend to live in the highly educated blue parts of the country, while the old industry workers who would be displaced tend to live in the less educated red parts.”

Like your mom told you: Study hard and stay in school.

What became of Trump’s election dead-enders

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“Some of his most hardcore associates and advisers, who egged Trump on and helped fuel his most dangerous or destructive attempts to subvert American democracy, aren’t doing so well. In the three months since the election was called for Joe Biden, most of the lawyers and MAGA enthusiasts who decided to play a consequential role in the ex-president’s efforts to overturn the Democratic nominee’s 2020 win (efforts that led directly to the Jan. 6 mob violence), have had their jobs or businesses shredded, their personal lives shaken, or their reputations irrevocably tarnished—all while Trump’s been relaxing and playing his rounds of golf in the Sunshine State.”

Daily Beast

Facebook to remove false vaccine claims

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“Facebook said on Monday that it plans to remove posts with erroneous claims about vaccines from across its platform, including taking down assertions that vaccines cause autism or that it is safer for people to contract Covid-19 than to receive the vaccinations. […] Monday’s move goes further by targeting unpaid posts to the site and particularly Facebook pages and groups. Instead of targeting only misinformation around Covid vaccines, the update encompasses false claims around all vaccines. Facebook said it consulted with the World Health Organization and other leading health institutes to determine a list of false or misleading claims around Covid and vaccines in general.”

I’ll believe it when I see it. Of course, I won’t see it but you know what I mean.

“AirPods!”

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During the early days of the pandemic, as more and more people began showing up on TV via Zoom et al, I would shout out to Barb, “AIRPODS!” That quickly became annoying so I would whisper, “AirPods.” Now I just mouth the words.

I have mine in so frequently I’ve stopped noticing them (they fit my ears perfectly). Arguments about audio quality aside, they have changed my perception of music. It seems to be coming from inside my head, rather than through my ears.

Apple Music playlists (piano solos and cello solos) have become the the background for my awareness, making me noticeably more relaxed and peaceful.

Vaccinated

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I got my first dose of COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) this afternoon. This was a lot sooner than I expected since Missouri is dead last in the nation in the percentage of citizens vaccinated. I was thinking April, maybe.

Our doctors are affiliated with the University of Missouri Hospitals in nearby Columbia so we signed up to their program. On Monday of this week they began online scheduling and –being over 65– I was able to get an appointment.

MU is using Faurot Field as their vaccination site. Not the stadium but what looked to me like the VIP area where the Big Shots watch the games. It was all very well organized and I was in an out in no time. I’m sure it will get more hectic when they start mass vaccinations.

I’ve thought a good deal about vaccinations in recent months. I get a flu shot every year and I’ve been vaccinated for pneumonia and shingles. As a child in the ’50s I was vaccinated against polio and smallpox and all of the other childhood diseases. But at my age (73 next month), COVID-19 could be a death sentence. Worse than death in my opinion. So getting this vaccine had a very real life-or-death feel to it.

If we can believe the CDC (and I do now), the Pfizer vaccine might be 95% effective. While there seems to be lots of questions about just what that means, there’s a good chance it will keep me out of the hospital and off a ventilator.

I go back for the booster shot in 21 days. According to the studies, some immunity starts 10 to 14 days after the first dose, but full immunity appears seven to 14 days after the second. Full immunity. Has a nice ring to it. But you won’t see me out and about without a mask for at least the next six months. We’ll avoid being indoors and still order our groceries online. Not much will change. But we (Barb got her first shot last week) will have some immunity. What a beautiful word. It feels like a super power.

Yes, there will be mutations of the virus and the scientists will be scrambling for years, doing their best to come up with new and more effective vaccines. My secret hope is this process will lead to vaccines for the common cold and other more serious diseases.

PS: Wore my favorite T-shirt (by Dylan Sisson) because you can’t see my shit-eating grin behind the mask.