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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Why Let Them Go to Waste?":America's Most Affluent Class Is Scheming Its Way Into a 3rd COVID Shot
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/americas-most-affluent-class-is-scheming-its-way-into-a-third-covid-shotCoronavirus
Why Let Them Go to Waste?: Americas Most Affluent Class Is Scheming Its Way Into a Third COVID Shot
As the delta variant sideswipes America, those who jumped the line the first time are angling for an illicit booster, in some cases traveling to different counties or states and devising fake names. Even if youre sneaking to get a third shot, says one person planning on it, its not like youre taking it from someone else.
By Nick Bilton
August 11, 2021
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Now that more than 166 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, and vaccines are so widely available that anyone in New York City can make an at-home appointment and choose their preferred manufacturer, youd think the fakery would have ended too. But the delta variant of COVID, a highly contagious mutation of the virus that has led to some breakthrough infections, has changed that. While booster shots arent being officially distributed in the United States (yet), many impatient and affluent people are again angling to get a third shot by any means possible.
Once again, the strategies to do so run the gamut. Ive heard of people in Los Angeles decamping to pharmacies in Orange County for a third shot, and others using different names to pretend they havent been vaccinated at all. Others are traveling beyond their counties, and even their states. Ive heard about emergency room doctors having their cohorts give them third shots.
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On the flip side of people trying to sneak a third vaccine are those adamantly against getting one in the first place. In California, the land of gluten-free vegans, intricate outdoor aerobics classes, and baby-food diets (yes, thats a thing), being an anti-vaxxer wasnt thought of as all that bad prior to the pandemic. Now, however, those in the anti-vax community have become lepers. One woman with children in Los Angeles, who has not gotten vaccinated and has no plans to do so, said her friendship circles have essentially crumbled over the past few months, and that shes left spending time with other anti-vaxxers. She lambasted people who are scared of anti-vaxxers and said shes fine being Zoom friends with people until they learn its the vaccine thats killing people, not the actual virus. (She is, obviously, incorrect.)
Her position is only becoming less tenable. Over the past several weeks, the Biden administration has mandated that federal workers must attest theyve been vaccinated or submit to regular testing, mask requirements, and social distancing. Some of the largest employers in the country, including Walmart, Disney, and Tyson Foods, are requiring similar rules for their employees, and restaurants in New York City will require proof of vaccination in order to dine indoors. One invite I recently received for a social event in Los Angeles noted at the bottom, in parentheses: If youre not vaccinatedwe completely understand, but you should seriously fuck off.
As COVIDs grip on the country revives arguably due entirely to people who refuse to get their shots, it seems that the vitriol is growing stronger. I have absolutely no patience for anti-vaxxers, one Hollywood executive told me. If they werent so fucking stupid and actually got the shot that is proven to save lives, this pandemic would be over in America. Wed have reached herd immunity, the economy would be back to normal, and people wouldnt be dying in hospitals. Instead, we have a bunch of fucking morons who think Bill Gates is trying to kill them.
iemanja
(53,031 posts)that haven't been able to vaccinate their populations.
They know when the vaxxes are going to expire, if Americans don't want them get them somewhere else before they expire. It's outrageous.
WHITT
(2,868 posts)most don't have the storage ability to keep the mRNA vaccines at 100 degrees below zero. We've already sent everything we have that only requires regular refrigeration overseas.
We'll be sending BILLIONS of doses more.
iemanja
(53,031 posts)I heard a story on NPR about impediments to exporting vaccines that were bureaucratic rather than about cold storage.
WHITT
(2,868 posts)Where's their minus 100 degree storage? It does not exist.
dweller
(23,629 posts)(you spelled insane wrong)
✌🏻
luv2fly
(2,475 posts)Many who replied blew it off and were okay with it. Surprised me, sickened me a little too to be honest.
ecstatic
(32,695 posts)I'll pass on a 3rd injection until it's fully established how covid antibodies work. Just because someone's antibody count may appear to be low after 6 months doesn't mean that their body has lost the ability to defend itself from the virus. There's so much more to how immunity works.