'Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all' - Aristotle
It is Sunday at 4 pm, and I have just returned from a long walk through a local golf course after my second Pfizer vaccine at 1 pm. Many people were at the vaccination centre at Sandown racecourse, a quick 20-minute drive from home along Princess Highway; it was busy. The process was very similar to last time; read my earlier blog here. In that blog, I didn't mention that I was given a blue vaccine card that I promptly placed in my wallet for safekeeping. Thankfully it was still there when I was asked for it. I don't think I have taken my wallet anywhere since the first vaccination. Ahh, the convenience of a smartphone. I entered the centre at 12.55 pm and left at 1.26 pm, a very efficient process, and my nurse Kim said she does about 50 doses a day. After administering the dose, Kim handed me a brochure about the MyGov website. I don't remember the last time I accessed my account. The MyGov website includes a "vaccine certificate" that can be viewed or saved. Interestingly I noticed some other vaccines I had in 2017 on my record for an overseas work trip. As somebody mentioned to me last week, there was no fuss over what type of vaccine you took for these trips or when holidaying! Ten years ago, I had a typhoid vaccine, again for work travel, which knocked me for six. I spent a couple of days in bed. I had no sort of reaction like this with Pfizer. After my first Pfizer vaccine, I was very lethargic for a week. I was in bed early and sleeping a lot, similar to a cold. There were no other reactions beyond that. The morning after the second vaccine, I had a slightly sore arm but no other reactions. Watching the news, it now appears that the country will not open up somewhat until 80% of those aged 16 plus are vaccinated. I am a big believer in democracy and freedom of choice. I am not sure how I feel about those that choose not to vaccinate. I'm sure some people may not be able to for medical reasons, but what about those who choose not to? And yes, I do know several of these people in my local and social media communities. Will those who choose to be unvaccinated place a strain on our medical system? As many of you may know, my wife is an emergency nurse and is busy in the quietest of times. The lockdowns have kept Covid at bay, avoiding a strain on the system, although I wonder what happens when we open up? Particularly for the unvaccinated?
Upon opening up, without a doubt, there will be a range of other things we will all need to consider. Even the little things; my cousin is holidaying in the south of France this week, he left his vaccination record at his let holiday home and had to fetch it to be admitted into a restaurant he had booked. I wonder how can we constructively talk about this without confrontation and consequential language I have seen recently?