Cutting

 Back in September, a horrible milestone was reached when a two month old boy died from COVID-19 in Michigan. He remains the youngest known American victim of the disease. This week there were other moments of note as a vaccine became available to protect people of all ages from the virus. This vaccine was injected into several notable arms, including current vice-president Mike Pence and former vice-president and soon to be president Joe Biden. At sixty-one and seventy-eight years respectively, they both have a few birthdays on that infant in Michigan.

Which may make some scientific sense, given that the virus seems to target people of a certain age, and those in high risk categories. High risk categories that seem to include pandemic deniers and government officials who have denied aid to Americans who are not as fortunate to be standing at the front of the line. Mike Pence, who has offered solutions such as prayer and abstinence to slow the spread of HIV while he was governor of Indiana, got a shot and a lollipop for being such a brave little shoulder as the nation watched. Joe Biden, who has been alternately masked and tested routinely since the pandemic started, also received his first dose of vaccine in front of television cameras. All a part of the grand scheme of things, I suppose.

Senator Joni Ernst, from Iowa, shared a photo of her injection on Twitter. Senator Joni is the one who once suggested frontline health care workers were lying about the number of people dying from COVID-19 for profit. “These health care providers and others are reimbursed at a higher rate if COVID is tied to it, so what do you think they’re doing.”

If you answered, "Saving lives," I would respectfully suggest that you deserve your vaccine before Senator Joni. 

Marco Rubio's tweet back in June encouraging us all to "wear a damn mask" wasn't enough to get his party's leadership to join in that movement. But he got a shot. Responding to the photo of Rubio looking away from the needle, an ER doc named Doctor Jeremy Faust replied, "I’m an ER doctor and despite trying, I have not yet been able to be vaccinated." In my book, the only guy who should be vaccinated ahead of ER staff would be Doctor Fauci.

Meanwhile I find my profession, teacher, at the top of many lists suggesting who gets vaccinated first. I feel horribly ambivalent about this, since there are infants and elders all around me who have been felled by this disease, and while I can understand the hierarchy involved socially and economically, I can't help but wonder if there isn't some group, some individuals, who I should let into line in front of me. While I sort out my feelings on this, I will continue to wear a mask, and maintain social distance, washing my hands and all the rest. For that infant in Michigan, and the hundreds of thousands across the globe who wait with me.