Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Wednesday Wisdom - Getting Boosted

 

I got my COVID Vaccine booster shot yesterday. And I don't feel good.

Originally I received the Moderna vaccine last March and April. Both times I felt half-sick and sluggish for several hours later but by the next day I was back to normal. Today I still feel some soreness achy-ness but nothing some ibuprofen can't handle. I did a decent 20 minute cardio Pre-Core workout yesterday too - so some of this is undoubtedly due to my body complaining of the exercise after a holiday week of laziness.

What experts have said about what I'm experiencing is that it's pretty normal and that it is my immune system adapting to prep and fight the COVID strain. 

Clearly, I'm pro-vaccine in a time where strangely, our society that has made medical health a political issue. "You can't tell me what I do with my body" scream people who are predominantly anti-abortion. Masks and life-saving medicine are eschewed for personal freedom. I think that is a gravely mistaken position to hold. 

This is a personal choice, but it is not only a personally choice. Even if you don't feel the serious effects of this virus, even if you are healthy and trust in 'natural immunity' - this isn't just about you. This is about the people you can infect who don't have immune systems as strong as yours. This is about the people who contract it from the people you infect who are also a-symptomatic. 

Theologically, this is about "loving your neighbor". I wish I would have understood and communicated this earlier as the pandemic was just settling in. Wearing a mask and getting vaxxed is a way to love others by drastically reducing the chances of getting them sick. Despite what our American mindset has told us, our individual rights are not supreme. We have responsibilities to others - God even calls us to dramatically love others (Matt. 5:43-48, John 13:34-35).

I thought about trying to link to all of the relevant peer-reviewed medical research to supplement my points. I thought about offering you up the clear preponderance of evidence that my above statements are factually true. That information is out there and has been out there for awhile now, and if it hasn't convinced you and this post has triggered you, you have my sympathies.

In my mind, a night of semi-sore sleep and a day-and-a-half of feeling a tad below average is a small price to pay for inoculating myself against this deadly virus and protecting others from contracting it from me. That's what it comes down to. 

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