Boosted

In two weeks our oldest daughter flies to Austria for a semester abroad -- a far more complicated undertaking than it was back in 1999 when Darwin and I did the same thing, because of the ever evolving travel restrictions due to COVID. If she has a positive PCR test right before her flight, she can't go, and not just her trip but her entire college semester is in jeopardy. To that end, all eligible adults in the house have been getting booster shots this week.

Now back last spring, Darwin and I had our two rounds of vaccination. We'd warned the kids that we might be sick for a day or two, and had laid in supplies of all the good things you need when you're ill -- chicken soup, 7-Up, Vick's Vapor Rub, etc. And after all that prep -- nothing. I'd counted on a day in bed, and I felt perfectly fine, as did Darwin. It was very anticlimactic. And everyone else in the family, as their vaccination turns came, was the same. A sore arm was the main side effect. I ended up doing the dishes, cleaning up, making dinner, just like any other day.

Not so with the booster. Yesterday morning I had my appointment; by the afternoon I was napping; by the evening I was in full aches and shivers. Darwin, whose shot was some hours later, followed the same path. All night we tossed carefully on our bed of pain. This morning Darwin slugged downstairs to reschedule all the meetings he'd felt sure he could manage today, and we went back to sleep. 

The particular aches and head pressure remind me of the flu we had in February of 2020, two weeks before the entire country locked down, which led to another round of our favorite parlor game: Flu or COVID? February 2020 was early for COVID, but we know now that it was definitely in the country. On the other hand, I tested positive for Flu B, and all the kids also got quite sick, down to the 2yo, which is not so characteristic of COVID. On the other hand, I lost taste and smell for a while, and indeed for a year I was off vanilla flavoring because it had acquired a particular burnt note. On the other hand, I was certainly around many people when my symptoms first started (at choir practice, when I wondered why I kept coughing), many of whom were elderly, and none of whom came down with anything. On the fifth hand, Darwin had been in Abu Dhabi for a work conference two weeks before I got sick, and we learned much later that his boss, on returning, was COVID Patient #1 in our urban area. On the sixth hand, the time lag was pretty significant, and Darwin himself never got sick...

As I was nursing my headache this morning, I said to Darwin, "I guess I'll blog about it," and he was hesitant, because whenever one talks about COVID, the loudest responses are the extremes, either the lockdown enthusiasts or the natural-immunity advocates. But somewhere, there has to be a space for the few sane people in the world to talk to each other. So, my sane friends, I say to you: I feel lousy, which I didn't expect, but I'd rather feel lousy for a few hours than risk my daughter not being able to go to Europe. That said, I have taken the actual practical precautions to protect myself, my family, and my weaker brothers and sisters, and so I am also done with the last vestiges of voluntary hygiene theater. Anyone who finds the mask I've been storing in my coat pocket for weeks more reassuring than my three shots is welcome to their peace of mind, I guess. 

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed. Not only am I exhausted, but you bet this time I'm not going to waste a bullet-proof excuse to take a day in bed.