In that post of mine two days ago, about the announcement of the first Covid-19 vaccine, I expressed some hesitation about accepting an early invitation to be inoculated, just in case there were longer-term side-effects that the very extensive, but short, trials hadn't yet brought to light.
I now think my hesitation could be misinterpreted!
To be clear: I am - most certainly - not one of those habitual naysayers who are against everything. Nor am I a fearful soul, afraid of everything until it's proven to be 100% safe (which is an impossibility). I am merely cautious, in a way I wouldn't have been twenty years ago. It's natural to look before you leap, when you are older.
But actually it all comes down to a rational judgement of risk.
For me, the more immediate (and well-proven) danger is from getting infected, and then having a bad and possibly fatal illness. That's the thing to keep in mind. The possibility of some as yet unknown general problem emerging many months after innoculation shouldn't be dismissed, but at present there are no indications of any such problem; and if the vaccine passes its stringent safety appraisal by the competent health authorities, and gets certified for use, then rationally I ought to take my place in the queue for it.
After all, I eagerly queued up for this winter's ordinary flu jab, and had no thought for any unwelcome side-effects. And surely that ordinary flu vaccine wouldn't have had so much intensive testing as the new Covid-19 vaccine.
I hear that on Social Media a boatload of anti-vaccine rumours are flying around. I can't see them of course, and haven't read them, as I don't have any Social Media apps installed. I rely instead on the regular news sources. Nothing I know about Social Media makes me want to join Facebook or Twitter, or any of the rest. I am certain that I'm serene, relaxed and mentally stable in a way I couldn't be, if I were constantly watching what people put up on those platforms.
However, is this blog itself part of Social Media?
I wouldn't say so, as it has never been any kind of discussion forum, even in its heyday a decade ago. And nowadays it's just a place for writing about things that catch my eye, my personal interests, my travels, and for building up an autobiographical record.
I'd hate to think that any post of mine had influenced somebody in a bad way, or deflected them from acting in their own interest. Even blog writers like me have a duty not to cause harm.
