Why America Is Playing Vaccine Roulette
What the great vaccination debate reveals about our social immune system
I got shingles last week. I went to sleep scratching what I thought was a particularly nasty bug bite, and woke up with what felt like a thousand of them — only they burned right down to the bone. Too much stress, I told myself. Too many appointments and emails and commitments, competing for my nervous system’s attention.
But deep down I know the real reason I got sick: I’d played a bit of vaccine roulette, and lost. Although I get the flu shot every year, I’d selectively ignored the CDC’s recommendation for healthy adults over 50 to get the vaccine for shingles. And as I sit here, contending with the bizarrely alternating burning and itching, fever and chills, I find myself replaying the twisted vaccine logic that went through my head, as well as the way it reflects the greater vaccination panic facing America today. The issue, itself a sort of cultural virus, epitomizes what’s wrong with our public conversation, our relationship to facts, and our sense of civic duty.
Despite my age (over 50), my doctor hadn’t even told me about the vaccine. I’d heard about it from a woman in my yoga class, but she’d added a few notes of caution, recommending that I pick a day where I could afford to be a little sick and…
