Safety

Finally safe

Just like before this was a very simple affair. I went through a fast and efficient two stage queue, got my vaccine, waited to see what happened for 15 mins, and left. I did a sudoku while I waited, it was that uneventful.

What this represents to me is more important. I am not at-risk and I am only fully-vaccinated because of where I live -- somewhere rich.

On a global scale, these vaccines are incredibly rare. You need to be disproportionately wealthy to get it.

We first detected COVID-19 in 2019-Dec. Pfizer started clinical trials for the vaccine in 2020-Apr, only 5 months later. The first commercial doses were available in 2020-Dec, only 1 year after COVID-19 was detected. By comparison, the "March of Dimes" to combat polio started in 1938 but it took nearly 17 years to create an effective commercial vaccine.

Not only is the technology a wonder, but so is the efficacy. Salk's vaccine was 60% - 70% effective against some strains of polio. Pfizer-BioNTech's efficacy starts at 75% for any of the strains present today.

These vaccines would look like wonder drugs to our grand parents' generation, doubly so for their parents.

Considering the time and place I live, I am one of the luckiest people to have ever lived. I am deeply grateful to the thousands of healthcare workers and volunteers who made this possible.