Taking a Shot

Covid-19 booster

It's hard to believe that we are entering the fifth year of Covid-19! Certainly when the reports of a new virus first started coming out the end of 2019, I never expected we would still be having to deal with it in 2024. 

My husband and I have had all six of the Pfizer shots, which included the two original injections as well as four booster shots. Since it has been more than six months since my last booster as well as the fact that a new booster was released last fall, I received my 7th shot yesterday.

The injection itself was not bad at all, and the only weird thing that happened is that when I got home (about 30 minutes after the injection) I started to feel a little dizzy. That has not happened with any shot I have ever received. I just laid down for a bit, and that went away. My arm is a little sore at the injection site, but other than that it has been smooth sailing.

Getting this additional shot made me wonder how many Americans have taken advantage of this latest booster? According to the CDC, about 12% of adults in the U.S. have gotten the new vaccine. That is a remarkably small number. So how many Americans have had seven shots like me? I can't find an answer to that, but it is obviously less than 12%.

Covid is still a big deal, even though most people act like it has gone away. CDC statistics indicate that 16,000 Americans are hospitalized each week with the virus, and 1,200 die each week. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that as of 4 February 2024, there have been nearly 775,000,000 cases reported in the world, with 103,000,000 of those being from the United States. Worldwide there have been over 7,000,000 deaths, with 1,200,000 of those occurring in the United States. I'm suspicious of the WHO's U.S. numbers because so many places are not reporting their data anymore in this country. Plus the U.S. statistics are less than what I reported in my July 20, 2023 post. 

Regardless, losing 1,200 Americans each week to Covid is not an insignificant thing. And we know those numbers are higher due to the lack of adequate reporting since early 2023. I don't want to become a statistic, so I'll take the shots.