My 97 year old mother has been informed that she can be vaccinated by the end of the month. She says she's hesitating because she's worried about the long term effects.
Since she's clearly going to outlive us all, I can't say as I can argue with *some* hesitation...
But I hope she gets over that, as the side effects of COVID-19 have already been seen to be quite severe (and spread through the body), even after a minor case, and I think it's highly improbable (not to say impossible) that the side effects of any of the current crop of vaccines will exceed those, and the odds of (eventual) infection while resident in a long-term care facility are only increasing as SARS-CoV-2 mutations increase in number and virility.
I wonder how she feels about other vaccinations, like for Polio, TB, Shingles, or the Flu? (The first two, she would have received decades ago, possibly with a more recent booster; the third, probably within the past decade or so; and the last, theoretically, annually for the past decade or longer...)
Well, her whole life she has been generally resistant to medications, treatments, supplements, etc (unlike her son, whose policy is generally to take any supplement that is mentioned positively anywhere on the internet). But (not entirely unlike her son) she can have sort of a warped sense of humor, and I believe this was an instance of that.
Edited to add: Your implied assumption that she is in a long-term care facility is incorrect. She's cheerfully and competently on her own, and if you met her and had a conversation with her, you'd probably mistake her for an unusually sharp woman in her fifties. This could, of course, change at any moment.
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wotw
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Date: 2021-01-09 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-11 03:12 pm (UTC)But I hope she gets over that, as the side effects of COVID-19 have already been seen to be quite severe (and spread through the body), even after a minor case, and I think it's highly improbable (not to say impossible) that the side effects of any of the current crop of vaccines will exceed those, and the odds of (eventual) infection while resident in a long-term care facility are only increasing as SARS-CoV-2 mutations increase in number and virility.
I wonder how she feels about other vaccinations, like for Polio, TB, Shingles, or the Flu? (The first two, she would have received decades ago, possibly with a more recent booster; the third, probably within the past decade or so; and the last, theoretically, annually for the past decade or longer...)
no subject
Date: 2021-01-11 03:44 pm (UTC)Edited to add: Your implied assumption that she is in a long-term care facility is incorrect. She's cheerfully and competently on her own, and if you met her and had a conversation with her, you'd probably mistake her for an unusually sharp woman in her fifties. This could, of course, change at any moment.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-11 11:18 pm (UTC)I remember you speaking/typing of her remarkable youthfulness before. May that continue, vaccinated or not!
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Date: 2021-01-12 05:21 am (UTC)