Vaccinations

 The New York Times recently reported that, as of September 6^th, more than 700 children in Zimbabwe have died from measles and more than 6,500 people have been infected with the virus. In New York state, some people have contracted polio, mostly with flu-like symptoms, but one man has become partially paralyzed. Researchers are finding polio virus in the wastewater. This, of course, is because of the decline in vaccinations.

 I believe in getting vaccinated--at least for some diseases. My kids had all the recommended vaccinations. As for myself, I’m not sure which vaccinations I’ve had. Not the measles vaccination, which wasn’t developed until 1963. I caught the measles as a child and, as a result, lost fifty percent of my hearing in one ear. I remember having to stay in bed in a darkened room so that my eyes wouldn’t be affected also. Polio vaccine wasn’t available until the late 1950s. Happily, I didn’t get that disease, but many people I know are crippled because of it. A man in our golf group was left with a droopy eye. In fact, he can’t close it. I assume I got the polio shot as soon as it was available.

 I’ve also probably been vaccinated for smallpox, which was the first vaccination to be developed, beginning in 1796. Worldwide, smallpox had a mortality rate upward of 50%. Thanks to vaccinations, which were widely distributed in the 1940s, smallpox was eradicated in the U.S., such that routine vaccinations for that disease were discontinued in 1972. I’ve probably also been vaccinated for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough), all of which were available by the late 1940s. But I think that’s all I’ve had—except for the Covid vaccine, of course. Nowadays, there are 14 vaccines recommended for children.

 Many vaccines are now recommended for adults. You can see all of them on a CDC website. It lists seventeen vaccinations you can get—too long and complicated for this blog post. I won’t be getting any of them. Not that I’m opposed. I just don’t worry about it.

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