I’m either extremely responsible or incredibly gullible. I’ll let you decide.
Last Thursday evening, my wife and I ventured to the Shoppers Drug Mart on Southridge Drive to get our COVID boosters, which, if my memory is accurate, would mark the sixth time I’ve got the jab since the government began offering them back in the spring of 2021.
I can remember the anticipation for the first one, waiting for my age group to become eligible so I could make my way to the Rexall drug store in Beaumont for that much sought after poke. That was followed by a couple of boosters at the Leduc Public Health Centre and three jabs in Okotoks since moving here about a year-and-a-half ago.
Health officials in jurisdictions throughout the world have consistently maintained that vaccines are the best way to protect someone from getting severely sick from a COVID-19 infection. I’ve been fortunate not to have contracted COVID, although it’s hard to know whether that’s because of the vaccine, good hygiene habits or just dumb luck.
I like to think the vaccine has had something to do with it and that all the individuals and organizations that our tax dollars fund to collectively keep us healthy are indeed driving the bus in the right direction.
Sometimes you just have to trust government, like when it tells you that Alberta will be able to walk away from the Canada Pension Plan with more than 50 per cent of the plan’s assets. OK, so maybe that isn’t the best example of putting your faith in elected officials, but when it comes to vaccines and infectious diseases, one thing I can be certain of is that health professionals know a heck of a lot more about the subject than I do.
The caveat to that is that they don’t know everything, which explains why one pharmacist, upon reviewing my vaccine history, said that my first shot, which was of the AstraZeneca variety, essentially wasn’t recognized anymore so I was effectively one jab behind. I have to say it was a little disconcerting that the much-anticipated first shot that was going to lead us out of the pandemic was, a year later, viewed in such a way.
I can see how these types of situations could prompt some people to cast doubt on government’s actions, how claims that all vaccines approved in Canada undergo a rigorous approval process to ensure they’re safe and effective might ring hollow.
I get skepticism, and I think it’s healthy, but I continue to get the jab for a few reasons. Firstly, what are my options? No protection at all doesn’t seem like a wise course of action. Secondly, I’m more likely to cut government some slack when it’s dealing with an evolving situation the likes of which most have never seen in their lifetimes. And thirdly, I like to think those in positions of power have the best interests of the public at heart, at least when it comes to health matters.
Maybe I’m naïve, but unless something changes, I’ll likely be getting jab No. 7 around this time next year.