Thursday, November 11, 2021

Boosted


It's hard to see it against the trees, but there's a sculpture on top of that column in the photo above. It's located on a housing estate near where I work, and I've blogged it a couple of times in the spring, when it's surrounded by daffodils. But it also looks pretty nice in the autumn, doesn't it?

Coincidentally, when I last mentioned that sculpture, I'd just had my first Covid-19 jab. Well, yesterday I got my booster. I went to the vaccination center at the appointed time and found the place positively thronged with people. I guess that's a good thing, because lots of people are getting the shot. But clearly the appointment times were merely a loose guideline. I chatted with the woman in line in front of me and when she wrote her birthdate on her sign-in sheet it was in 1992. I wondered how she, a mere spring chicken, and I, an old-ish codger, are in the same vaccine priority group? But of course I know nothing about her medical history. Or maybe priority groups are not a thing.

Anyway, I was ushered into a little room and jabbed so quickly that I didn't even feel it. "Are you sure it went in?" I joked to the nurse. He assured me it did, and sure enough, last night my arm was a bit sore so I guess it must have.

So far I've had no other side effects, knock on wood. I got the Pfizer booster, and my original vaccines were Astra-Zeneca, so I'm now one of these people walking around with different brands of antibodies. Supposedly this is a good thing.

Speaking of vaccines, have you heard about the Newsmax White House correspondent who Tweeted out some nonsense about the ingredients of the vaccines and how they are basically the beginning of The End, according to the Book of Revelation? She insists there's a compound in them called "luciferase," and of course that name had her immediately conjuring the red guy with horns. She says it's all part of a government scheme to track us and blah blah blah. Even Newsmax says she's run off the rails -- and that's saying something. Her theories are posted here, and they're amusing as hell. (No pun intended.)

You know, I was thinking this morning that all this medical denialism is really nothing new. There are always lay people who question the science or insist on "alternative treatments" for almost any disease. Back in the '90s, for example, there was a whole movement of people who believed HIV didn't cause AIDS, and that life-saving protease inhibiting drugs were actually what made people sick. I knew some people who were part of that movement. They insisted that the medicines were a conspiracy by Big Pharma and that somehow they knew better. And of course, many if not all of them are dead now.

It's interesting how some people have a visceral certainty that they know better than all the highly educated experts. And when you add religion to the mix, well, things get even more complicated. Religion, after all, is all about belief, regardless of physical evidence or lack thereof.


I saw this display on my way to work, propped up in a shop window. I can't help thinking this is why the planet is burdened with waste -- because there are factories churning out crazy stuff like this! They are kind of cute, though.

54 comments:

  1. Glad you have been boosted. There have always been deniers who don't want to listen.

    I suppose if you live on your own and have no-one to massage your feet for you....?!

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  2. I wonder if those massage slippers come in size 48 (14); no, I don’t really wonder. As the emcee at the Palm Springs Follies once said, “Born in 1992?” I’ve got hemorrhoids older than that!”

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    1. Ha! That was basically my reaction -- well, not the hemorrhoidal part.

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  3. Hi Steve. Just a quick comment about the age of the woman in the queue. Age / heath does not apply in number of cases. If she was a carer or worked / volunteered with vulnerable adults, she would have been asked to take the vaccine ahead of her age allotted time. I'm in my 60's and had mine about 4 weeks 'early' for that reason. No side affects apart from bruised arm and I'd do it again if requested. Best wishes

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    1. Good point, Fran! She said she had a "start-up" so I was thinking technology, but she certainly could be living with or caring for a vulnerable person.

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  4. I hope you and Dave will continue to be well.

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  5. I was on-line yesterday, and a friend was getting absolutely bashed for his post about getting his booster shot. A realtor went on and on about how covid is easily curable. (This is why two shirt tail relatives of my husbands have died in a week, I suppose...) Anyway, I pointed out a very obvious flaw in her thinking. She responded with 'ROFL'. I shouldn't have done it, I suppose, but I said, "You know, laughing at people is not a valid argument. You have proven no point at all except that you're ignorant as hell. If I need medical advice, I'll stick with doctors. If I ever need a realtor, well, I think I'll stick to one who's not busy with her medical practice. I popped in a bunch of laughing emojis just for giggles.

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  6. (Love Debbie’s comment above)
    When I received my booster a few weeks ago, I remarked that it didn’t hurt the way my flu shot had , to which the tech explained that the needle used is much smaller than the one used for flu shuts

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    1. Well, that explains it. I think this is the first vaccine I've had that I was entirely unable to feel.

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  7. I need to schedule our boosters, since we got our first shots in February. Covid numbers are way down here at the moment, but who knows what the winter/holiday season will bring.

    I'm glad you and Dave have that extra protection, now. Stay well!

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    1. Yeah, it never hurts to have that extra little bit of reassurance!

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  8. I can't make your link work. Maybe it's just me.
    Glad you're boosted. I just asked Jessie how August was after his first vaccine yesterday and he told her, "Better than yesterday." He's so funny.
    I, too, think of all the junk in landfills. Not only that but the factories where it's all made are killing the planet. It's overwhelmingly depressing.

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    1. Hmmmm...that's weird. It works for me. I am also better than yesterday! LOL

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  9. Glad you got your booster! My vaccinated daughter has come down with Covid so still be careful and stay safe!

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    1. Yikes! I hope she's OK! At least her case should hopefully be mild.

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  10. I didn't feel my flu shot this year - and I didn't watch so maybe I'm part of a group of employees that they didn't really vaccinate just to see what would happen. My arm wasn't sore either. On the other hand there was a dot of blood on the bandaid when I removed it later. So never mind. Ha!

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    1. Yeah, I think blood is a sure sign you've been jabbed! LOL

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  11. It seems like more and more people are willing to believe just about any crack pot theory.

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    1. This is what happens when people share unfiltered information. In the old days, editors helped weed out unreliable facts and sources, but we have less of that now, and some people are drawn to "facts" that simply aren't factual.

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  12. Glad you got your booster! In my medical opinion (haha) I think mixing vaccines is a good thing. My son got the J&J and just got the Moderna as his booster. And I'll just throw this out there... not all religious folks are wackos. Truly. I tend to ignore all the naysayer stuff since you can't argue with people like that.

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    1. Oh, I don't mean to imply that all religious people are wackos! Not at all. But as in any belief system there are extremists.

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  13. I just had this kind of vaccine chat at work with co-workers who asked me what I thought about the unvaxxed. I said if they are unvaxxed because of the advice of a medical professional, and then sought a second opinion that matched the first, I have no issue.
    But if they are unvaxxed because of microchips or Satan or someone told them a cousin had his balls enlarged by the vaccine, I think they're idiots.

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    1. Absolutely -- some people have a legitimate reason not to get vaxxed, and as you said, medical advice is the key component of that. If a doctor's told them not to get it, I'm on board.

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  14. I'm so glad you got your booster shot and all went well. I can understand fear of vaccines, but not the resistance to getting them. There's always some level of uncertainty, but sometimes you just have to override fear and go for the jab. There is a bit of Darwinian theory unfolding right before our eyes.

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    1. Yeah, I mean, no one likes to have foreign substances injected into their bodies. But it's better than the alternative!

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    2. Steve-- My comment showed up! Wow. I am so surprised. Where did you find it? This is a little bit crazy. Now I wonder if this one will show up.

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    3. Robin, it showed up because it was in the comment moderation queue. I turned on moderation briefly, but now I've turned it off again. Long story!

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  15. There are all kinds of deniers walking around us.

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  16. That site was indeed amusing. It is truly amazing how people get sucked into such fantasies.
    Glad you got boosted!
    I just looked at a catalog full of crazy stuff like those massage slippers. I didn't buy anything but I did at least recycle the catalog.

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    1. Ha! Well, recycling the catalog is a good first step! The site is interesting because that woman is obviously smart, but she is clearly also deluded.

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  17. I'm sure there are many who believe her and think she's being cancelled or silenced by the "sheep." It's disheartening and scary. I got boosted too and had (for me) a hefty reaction to the third Pfizer 24 hours after the shot. However, I have had all Pfizer and you're a mix, so you might not get anything.

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    1. Oh, I'm sure lots of people are on her side. (Just read the comments below her post!) I haven't had a reaction yet, knock on wood.

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  18. Always pretty much been about natural fiber here, wool is our saving grace. Sometimes i "go off the rails" - go to the dollar store and buy plastic nonsense, like today ,for instance ,
    I made a snow globe that is sure to be landfill tomorrow. Generally I buy paper in the dollar store- balance.
    The past six years has been so filled with nonsense we can not even muster outrage anymore. Shrug....
    The boost jab was the same with us, we wondered if they just pretend jabbed us.

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    1. It was surreal, wasn't it? I don't think I've ever had a shot that I just didn't feel at all.

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  19. Congrats on getting boosted! I think you probably have the best of all possible scenarios vaccine wise. I can only shake my head at all the conspiracy theories. Some are pure lunacy. I suppose we shall see who survives these supposed end times. I am boosted, too, but I do still worry about breakthroughs. I hope such a case would at least be mild.

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    1. Well, of course, NONE of us survive in the long run, right? So when I die at 95, some crazy right-winger can say, "Well of course he died! He got the Covid jab!"

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  20. The welsh government is not enforcing health care staff to get inoculated

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  21. The whole fast fashion thing has got to stop. 39,000 TONS of discarded cheap clothing are piling up in the desert in Chile. They're full of chemicals and the landfills will not accept them. It's just one more environmental disaster due to making stupid stuff. One wonders what the lifetime of the massaging slippers will be.

    https://www.mic.com/life/mountain-trashed-fast-fashion-chile

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    1. Holy cow! I hadn't heard about that! I picture the Chilean desert as a pristine place -- clearly not so.

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  22. Sneer not. There are many times my feet could use those cozy vibrating slippers.

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  23. Love The Autumn Colors - Hows Olga Girl These Days - Hankering For A Treat I Believe - Enjoy The Weekend

    Cheers

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    1. Snoring right next to me as I type -- but I'm sure if I woke her up a treat would be appreciated.

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  24. Apparently luciferase is a real enzyme and it's used in biological research.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciferase

    The woman is a fucking nutjob. There should be laws against that kind of stupidity.

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    1. Yeah, it's used as a bioluminescent cell marker, as I understand it. But I don't think it's an ingredient in the vaccine! I'm mostly laughing at her associating it with the devil.

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  25. Those slippers do look really comfy! Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

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  26. Glad you got your booster. We got ours yesterday. I didn't feel the first two but I did the booster. To be honest, I was a little reluctant to get the booster, three shots in one year for the same thing but I did it anyway. Religion is all about belief in things that go against science and common sense, one of the reasons I find religion to be inherently evil.

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