raven | (no subject)

I got my first dose of vaccine today. I had no idea I was eligible until Thursday evening, after my therapist mentioned that "severe mental illness" is on the NHS list of conditions that put you at a higher COVID risk - which I wasn't sure about, but then I looked at it and bipolar disorder is mentioned specifically. So I went back and forth about it for a while - aren't other people more deserving?? my bipolar disorder is very well controlled! really it's just a technicality that I'm on the list! - and then decided that that's not a productive line of inquiry. I typed in my NHS number, it checked my eligibility and and then told me I could be vaccinated in the next 12 hours within walking distance from my house.

So I went! And it turned out that a) the vaccination centre opened for the first time yesterday and b) everything is going like clockwork. I got there, they took my name and details, sent me from marshal to marshal, asked me how I was and what I do for a living and if I'm having a nice day, and jabbed me unremarkably in the arm. I got dressed up for the occasion. I came home feeling good about it.

Anyway. I encourage you, if you have a health condition that the NHS knows about, not to make my mistake and actually check the list. Maybe you're on it, and as wise people keep telling me, every person who gets vaccinated lowers the risk for everyone else.

Otherwise: I'm still here, against my better judgement. It's nearly a year since my dad had the covid and the stroke, somehow. Phoebe's funeral was on Wednesday.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Posted by

lannamichaels

I'm very glad you were able to get the vaccine.

Posted by

raven

Me too! I feel a bit better about the everythingness of everything.

Posted by

oursin

The important thing is that as many people as possible get vaccinated as soon as possible. It is not just an individual good, it is a social good.*
(Trust me: I'm a historian of medicine)

But I do feel a huge relief when somebody I know reports that they have had their jab!

*You are not flying yourself into some highly necessitous prioritised area to falsely present yourself as a deserving case, which is where I would draw the ethical line.

Posted by

rydra_wong

*You are not flying yourself into some highly necessitous prioritised area to falsely present yourself as a deserving case, which is where I would draw the ethical line.

YUP. Anyone who's not doing that (or otherwise using fraud to present themselves as eligible when they're not, and to elbow aside people with greater need) is good.

Posted by

raven

True story: I have been mistaken for Alaska Native before. Shockingly, this is not a fact I feel like I should leverage. :) Thank you for this.

Posted by

philomytha

Oh, I recognise that, I had the same sense that I was sneaking in on a technicality. It's lucky someone rang me up out of the blue to book me in, or I would still be waffling about it. I'm glad you've been vaccinated too <3

Posted by

raven

It actually makes me feel better about the state of the world, that so many good people are having this ethical dilemma. <3

Posted by

tau_sigma

Hurrah! I'm so pleased you're vaccinated! I hope you don't feel even briefly unwell, but if you do, paracetamol is a minor miracle & I highly recommend it!

So much love to you for the other things. <3

Posted by

raven

<3 <3 I felt pretty horrible for a day, but honestly I didn't mind it at all! I felt the vaccine had definitely Done Something.

Posted by

goss

I'm glad to hear you got the first dose of the vaccination.

Posted by

raven

Thank you! I hope everyone everywhere gets it soon.

Posted by

corvidology

Very happy to hear you've been vaccinated. You really are helping out everyone else as well.

Posted by

st_aurafina

I hope you're feeling okay after the vaccine, but yay for being vaccinated. One more person keeping other people safe, go you.

*hugs you*

Posted by

musesfool

I’m so glad you’ve been able to get vaccinated.

Posted by

macadamanaity

I'm so happy you were able to get vaccinated! It's this small burst of joy amidst everything else when all the people I like and care about get it, and it's one fewer thing to worry about (regarding this, at least).

Posted by

starlady

I'm glad you were able to get the jab. It helps you and everyone--and inasmuch as the UK has been a source of variants just like the States, "everyone" very much includes the rest of the planet.

Posted by

rydra_wong

WOOOHOOO CONGRATS \o/ I am so delighted when anyone I know gets vaccinated!

And yeah, I've been doing my best to yell loudly about "severe mental illness" being in group 6 so people know -- it's unclear exactly where the boundaries of the definition are, but bipolar and schizophrenia are specifically included.

So I went back and forth about it for a while - aren't other people more deserving?? my bipolar disorder is very well controlled! really it's just a technicality that I'm on the list!

Pretty much everyone I know who's been vaccinated and is under 70 seems to have done the ambivalence dance of "but it's only a technicality and I shouldn't really be eligible!".

I have a friend who was embarrassed and mildly guilty about being eligible for the vaccine because he's immunosuppressed by the medical treatment for his chronic auto-immune condition, because he's only in his 40s and doesn't feel "vulnerable".

So this seems like a very common phenomenon.

and as wise people keep telling me, every person who gets vaccinated lowers the risk for everyone else.

THIS. You are doing a good thing!

Posted by

rmc28

I am pretty sure my inclusion in Group 6 is actually a technicality, but also that it's much more important to let people involved in rolling out vaccination to get on with it, rather than take up their time arguing about my technicality. Also, once the offer of vaccination was in front of me, I am not actually selfless enough to turn it down. I wanted it.

(In my case it involved causing further admin work for a different set of people involved in running the Ensemble 2 vaccine trial, but that does mean I can report that the trial's 'no detriment' process works well.)

I am SO PLEASED you are vaccinated, raven.

Posted by

rydra_wong

I am pretty sure my inclusion in Group 6 is actually a technicality, but also that it's much more important to let people involved in rolling out vaccination to get on with it, rather than take up their time arguing about my technicality.

Yup! Also the rollout now covers everyone over 55. So unless you want to argue that you are at substantially less risk than a healthy 55-year-old, doesn't seem like much point.

but that does mean I can report that the trial's 'no detriment' process works well.

I figured it would, but that's nice to know! And congrats on being vaccinated!

Posted by

dolorosa_12

I'm really happy to hear that you got your vaccination — every time I hear about someone I know getting their first (or second) dose, I feel a little sliver of hope.

Posted by

kass

I'm so glad you got your first dose. As you say, every person who gets vaccinated lowers the risk for everyone else.

Thinking of you.

Posted by

not_hathor

Glad to hear that another member of my on-line friend-list is at least partially protected! Husband and I received our first shots on Thursday; like you I wasn't certain if I was really eligible yet since I'm just outside the current age-group and my only medical 'co-morbidity' is diabetes, whereas Husband is 65, diabetic and has a heart condition.... I was more worried about my Mom (she'll be 91 next month!)and my older sister. They both had 1st shots last week as well.

Stay strong, raven.