Letters to my readers
September 9, 2022
Dear readers,
The new Covid boosters for the Omicron BA.5 variant are already available on the market, authorized by the FDA. According to CNBC, in an article written by Spencer Kimball, on August 31, 2022, the Pfizer booster is for people ages 12 and older, while the Moderna one is available for people ages 18 and older. He adds that the U.S. will only use the updated shots for people ages 12 and older from now on. According to Popular Science, in a piece written by Philip Kiefer on September 5, 2022, the boosters are almost identical to the original shots, but with the added benefit of inducing an immune response to both the original strain as well as the BA.4/BA.5 Omicron strains.
All this is such good news, because it’s becoming clear that we are finally moving away from this pandemic. It seems that the Covid virus will be endemic from now on and, because of that, it will require an annual shot, just like the flu.
My primary care physician recommended to get the flu vaccine and this new booster during the month of October, but she didn’t recommend to have both the same day. You could, she said, but you would feel awful. A few days in between both vaccines is best.
Yesterday, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom passed away, she was 96 years old. Although she was never my queen, she was, and remained, part of the history of the world for better or for worse. Yesterday was also the 20th anniversary of my dad’s passing, he never got to have pomp and circumstance, but at least he got a beautiful Carrara-marble plaque with his name on it where his remains are, among all the workers he loved so much and worked so hard to protect. That plaque was chosen by one of my older brothers who also passed away this year.
Life is like that, good and bad news all at once, what stays with us is the benefit of the presence of all those souls who have passed, and the profound mark they left in us. Queen Elizabeth was the Queen of the U.K. all of my life until yesterday, and although I was never her subject, her passing makes me think of people of her generation who lived such long lives and were an example of endurance and perseverance. That generation is extinguishing before our eyes and we can neither stop it, nor reverse it. What we can do is to take the best they left behind and remember them for what they meant to us, because, in that way, we can remind ourselves of how vulnerable we are when it comes to death, which, as much as we want to avoid it, it’s just around the corner waiting for us.
In the meantime, we can reflect on the good in us as people to relish in the fact that we still have time to make a difference for the better in this world.
I wish for you endurance, perseverance, and a long, good life.
All my letters
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2020