Riding the Wave, 44. Vaccine Promises

Today, we are beginning the vaccinations against Covid in Spain. Here, in Galicia, 500 are going to be carried out in a couple of elderly residences in Santiago. Both the residents and the personnel are first in line. The next batch to arrive will be on Tuesday, with 18,000 doses.

It sounds fine, but it's much less than it should be, and vaccination will continue at a snail's pace. With a population of almost three million people here, in Galicia, those 65 and older comprise just over 24% of that number. Eighteen thousand and a half doses in the first week means that vaccination of the highest risk group, the elderly, will take a long time. Europe had the opportunity to buy more vaccines, but it didn't, so now it's a slow process that will most likely culminate at the end of summer.  

At this rate, I suppose I, who am over 50, with hypertension and asthma putting me into a higher risk factor, will probably be called to receive the vaccine sometime in July, with my husband following soon after. Our daughter might not even get it this year, since she's young and supposedly at the least risk. Sadly, I feel we have another year ahead of waves and troughs of contagions. 

Still, it's a light that shines on us. The number of people who won't get vaccinated is also dropping. It would be hilarious (not!) if so few people trusted the vaccine, that herd immunity would still be far off by the end of next year. Thankfully, more and more are affirming that they will get it when they are offered it, at least in Spain. But, there are still plenty of anti-vaxxers out there who simply won't understand simple science explained.

Smallpox was a scourge once upon a time. I saw a picture today, from the end of nineteenth century England, with two boys side by side. One had had the smallpox vaccine, the other hadn't. The one that hadn't was covered in the sores created by smallpox; the other was fine. Smallpox was eliminated by vaccination. I remember that my mother, born in rural Spain in 1929, had the scar on her arm, showing the only vaccination she had had in her life. Like her, an attempt was made to get every single child vaccinated. It worked. By the time I was born, in 1969, the smallpox vaccination was no longer being given because there was practically no incidence, at least in the Western Hemisphere. The anti-vaxxers didn't win that round.

The storm Bella has already been leaving its mark. We have a red alert along the shore for rough seas, and orange and yellow alerts for wind and rain. The eucalyptus trees on the other side of the road have been bending most of the afternoon, and will bend a bit more tonight, when the wind picks up. If we could leave the township, we would probably have driven out to the coast, to watch the wind rip the water, and smash the waves against the rocks, from the inside of the nice, dry, warm car. But we can't. And it seems that other townships along the coast, such as Porto do Son, Noia, Outes, and Muros, might shut down, too. As it is, our township and that of Boiro will probably not open until the middle of January. The total infected here today is 51. For the proper ratio of infected to total population, the number has to go down to 11, to be able to open up. It'll be a while.

And so the year hobbles to its end.

Life continues.