Craig Bakay | Apr 21, 2021


I’ve never really considered myself part of any herd except maybe hippies and rock’n’roll musicians but when it comes to being part of the covid herd immunity thing, I’m in.

My beloved daughter Meggie will be relieved to know that I got my first covid shot Monday. I plan to be there Aug. 9 for the second dose as well.

The Sharbot Lake Family Health Team has this stuff down now and the whole thing was pretty much an in-and-out operation. Former fire chief Bill Young told me where to park, our Mayor Frances Smith told me where to go and even when to sit (there are times when being naturally bossy comes in handy) and Dr. (Peter) Bell gave me the shot. Turns out he’s pretty good at it, just a slight prick that lasted a nanosecond and there wasn’t even any blood. I’m guessing he’s done this before. All in all a very efficient operation.

For the record, I’m 66 and we all got the Moderna vaccine.

Now I don’t like needles but it’s more the concept that concerns me, not so much the actual getting stuck. Although, there was this one time . . .

I was down at Fairmount Home getting pictures of residents getting flu shots when Director of Care Mary Lake decided I should get one too. After several minutes of her bullying and questioning my manhood, I finally acquiesced and took off my jacket. And then Wham! It was like a yellowjacket defending a nest. And then, while I can’t prove it, I’m pretty sure she twisted the needle around in there. It was probably payback for something I wrote that she was getting revenge for.

I love Mary, she’s a sweetheart. Just don’t let her near you if she’s got a needle in her hand.

I even inquired if she was volunteering at this clinic before entering. She wasn’t.

But all that aside, cudos to the health team and their volunteers for a well-planned and well-run operation.

I have a few friends that are somewhat on the fence about the vaccine shot. Don’t be.

Vaccines have been around at least since 1796 when Edward Jenner used cowpox material to create immunity to smallpox and they’ve pretty much got it all figured out by now. (BTW, the CDC doctor in the Walking Dead episode 1-6, TS-19 was named Edwin Jenner. Just a little apocalyptic trivia there.)

At any rate, it certainly seems that the only way we’re going to get out of this covid mess is through vaccination and ‘herd immunity.’

Like everyone else, I’m suffering from covid fatigue and I want to get back to jamming with my friends. I’m not much for restaurants but I’d certainly like to go to the comic book store and spend an hour or so in a guitar shop. I’d like to cover a bake sale (I’ve said many times that the best bakers on the planet live in Frontenac County). Hell, I’d like to cover anything at this point.

And I’d like to do all of the aforementioned without having to wear a damned mask. I wear one, but I don’t like it at all.

Here’s hoping we can get just about everybody vaccinated with all due haste. It would be nice if we could spend Christmas with our friends and families this year.

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