I Don’t Want to Get the Coronavirus Vaccine

This one’s for you, anti-vaxxers

Photo by Hyttalo Souza on Unsplash

I’ll be honest for a minute: I don’t want to get the coronavirus vaccine.

I am not an anti-vaxxer of any sort. I’ve never been one to believe that vaccines cause adverse side effects (especially not things like autism) or that they are damaging to health and society. No. I am up to date on every single one of my vaccines, and happily so, because I take pride in doing my civil duty and protecting my communities.

This vaccine, though, makes me a little more apprehensive. The coronavirus just surfaced about a year ago, which means this vaccine hasn’t been a long time in the making — it’s only been multiple months. I’d be lying to you if I said that didn’t make me a little nervous, or that it didn’t make me think twice. Because it has. I’ve never in my lifetime seen a vaccine be developed this fast. (Well, I guess I haven’t lived that long, but even so, I haven’t read about it in history, either.)

For once, putting our general beliefs about vaccines aside, I want to be here today and say honestly that I, too, am nervous. I, too, struggle with the idea of receiving this vaccine. I think most of us can agree that we’re not going to be exactly excited to go into the clinic and get this when it’s finally approved and widely distributed.