A few days after arriving in Florida, my publisher messaged me to ask how my flight went. He, too, hadn't flown in over a year, and was newly vaccinated and a little stressed about the prospect of navigating a crowded airport and cramming into an airplane.
This is the part that really gets me. There is zero reason for people to be stressed about crowds and flying if they are vaccinated. The only reason they are is the media spent the last 15 months pushing panic porn. The virus was a real threat, especially to older or more vulnerable people. It is highly contagious. But the threat has to be put in perspective. Our response to the threat was completely disproportionate, as well as illogical and self-destructive. Now, people wonder why others are still afraid even though we have three amazing vaccines that nearly anyone can get.
Some of us have us have immunocompromised loved ones, friends, neighbors, etc. and are worried about becoming asymptomatic spreaders. I won’t speak for my publisher, but in my own case, my trip was my first time in a year and a half not only seeing my parents who are in their 70s, but also my grandmother in law who is 91.
Please do not dismiss very real and very personal health concerns as “zero reason for people to be stressed.” This editorial is not about the response to a deadly pandemic or the effectiveness of vaccines. I was simply acknowledging that traveling is a stressful endeavor and AirTag aims to alleviate some of that stress and anxiety.
A few days after arriving in Florida, my publisher messaged me to ask how my flight went. He, too, hadn't flown in over a year, and was newly vaccinated and a little stressed about the prospect of navigating a crowded airport and cramming into an airplane.
This is the part that really gets me. There is zero reason for people to be stressed about crowds and flying if they are vaccinated. The only reason they are is the media spent the last 15 months pushing panic porn. The virus was a real threat, especially to older or more vulnerable people. It is highly contagious. But the threat has to be put in perspective. Our response to the threat was completely disproportionate, as well as illogical and self-destructive. Now, people wonder why others are still afraid even though we have three amazing vaccines that nearly anyone can get.
Some of us have us have immunocompromised loved ones, friends, neighbors, etc. and are worried about becoming asymptomatic spreaders. I won’t speak for my publisher, but in my own case, my trip was my first time in a year and a half not only seeing my parents who are in their 70s, but also my grandmother in law who is 91.
Please do not dismiss very real and very personal health concerns as “zero reason for people to be stressed.” This editorial is not about the response to a deadly pandemic or the effectiveness of vaccines. I was simply acknowledging that traveling is a stressful endeavor and AirTag aims to alleviate some of that stress and anxiety.
First, get those vulnerable friends and family vaccinated! Immunocompromised is not a contraindication to vaccination, as far as I'm aware. I personally know three such people - all are vaccinated. In fact, I'm not aware of *any* contraindication for at least one or the other brands of vaccines widely available in the US. (E.g., if you can't take J&J due to an ingredient allergy, you can probably still take Pfizer or Moderna, and vice versa.) If there is a condition that bars ANY COVID19 vaccination, I've not heard of it.
Second, studies have shown that *vaccinated* asymptomatic spread isn't a thing like it was in the unvaccinated world. That's why they still recommended masks for vaccinated people at first before they knew about that one way or the other, but then changed the mask guidance accordingly once the data was in.
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