Some 128 million Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccination. I am one, only days ago. In and out in 40 minutes, at a clinic where hundreds bared arms on a single day with assembly-line efficiency.
Precision appeals to me. So I today designated myself the 125,847,389th American to be jabbed. The number is surely wrong, but its magnitude is close enough that my little game qualifies as honest fiction.
We rightly acknowledge those who serve in the armed forces. And defeating the coronavirus is no less a challenge than our military faces in any geopolitical hotspot today. The vaccinated – young and old, healthy and infirm – are foot soldiers worthy of acclaim.
I like my spot on the defensive rampart.
“Gauger, Jeff, Serial Number 125,847,389, reporting for duty for my country and all of humanity, sir!”
Unfortunately, many won’t participate. Their reasons – skepticism of science or government, devotion to a political ideologue, or belief in a social-media phenom getting rich by peddling rubbish – baffle.
No matter. The vaccinated fight for all. The weak. And the selfish.
Thank you for your service, sir.