The sun is shining, and the windows are open. Open windows mean “spring” to me. The annual airing out of our home after a stuffy, long winter. The sound of the birds making a ruckus so loud it’s borderline annoying. Even here in Chicago the smell of new flowers and blooming trees can be detected on the breeze.
Spring and holidays like Easter have always been associated with “rebirth,” and this year the idea of rebirth is so much more poignant and palpable.
CNN says, as of March 22, more than 126.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s nearly 1 in 4 people in the US who have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
About 1 in 4 people in the US – nearly 83 million people – have received at least one dose of vaccine, and more than 1 in 8 – about 45 million people – have been fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
We’re averaging somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 million vaccination shots a day.
Several states are currently offering doses to any adult—regardless of age or health!
Not only have my windows been shut all winter to keep out the cold and the wet of the season; we’ve all—all of us!— been shut in and walled up for over a year now because of this horrible disease. And now, President Biden says that we’re on track to have everyone vaccinated sometime in May.
Talk about rebirth!
The promise of spring rings truer this year than most others.
I feel that promise when I take my kid out to the playground and see all the friends he has yet to meet but will be available to him once we’re all vaccinated.
I see it in my patients who can go outside in the mild weather and take walks—fresh air is truly rejuvenating.
Friends are starting to be hopeful. We’re talking more and more, much more realistically, about what we’ll do when we get the chance to get together soon.
So many people are making plans to visit relatives they haven’t seen in more than a year. It’s so exciting to see the hope in their eyes.
But the promise of spring and all that it brings can only be truly appreciated if you schedule that vaccine when it’s your time. Many communities are skeptical of getting the vaccine and for very good reasons. In the past, minority populations in the United States have been treated horribly by the medical community, at worst, and unfairly, at best. I’m not just talking about my community of Black Americans and other BIPOC who were subject to ethically unjustified studies and treatments. LGBTQ+ Americans and Americans who are obese have often found the medical community treats them without compassion, dismisses their concerns, or is outrightly hostile. It’s no wonder that some among you might feel hesitant or dig your heels in about getting this vaccine.
The prestigious Mayo Clinic has done a good job of debunking the myths related to the vaccine. The vaccine was not rushed through the system. It underwent all needed testing and studies, and it is safe. The vaccine will not alter your DNA. You are not immune even if you already had COVID—we’re not sure how long immunity lasts post-disease. The side effects of the vaccine are mild to moderate—the very rare cases of less moderate side effects are few and far between. Neither the Pfizer nor Moderna vaccines contain fetal cells, nor were fetal cells used in the development or production of either vaccine. There is no “Bill Gates” chip in the vaccines; no one will track you. Your cell phones track you every single day.
Please get your vaccines so you too can revel in the promises of spring. Vaccines are safe and effective, and they protect you and the people around you from this tragically deadly disease.
Open that window for you and your loved ones and let the fresh air in.
I got mine. Now go and get yours.
Dr. Willie Mae Jackson
