Covid-19 vaccines: Clinging on to a little hope

I received the news yesterday: one of my old school friends died after a long battle with Covid-19 in a hospital in Keetmanshoop in Namibia. He would have become a grandfather for the first time in November.

On Wednesday, my present wife, the lovely Snapdragon, received her first vaccination. In terms of the ongoing vaccination debate, Snapdragon is a member of one of the lunatic fringes. Not the lunatic fringe that believes Bill Gates created the coronavirus – the other one.

The one that believes vaccines make you bullet-proof and anti-vaxxers should be re-educated in North Korean-style punishment camps.

When I went for my first vaccine, I had to wait in line for four hours. She was in and out in 45 minutes. Which is understandable. I’m a pleasant guy – people like to have me around.

“I was so excited, I burst into tears,” she said. “Why?” I asked. “It means I can’t get Covid,” she said. “It means I’ll live to see my grandchildren grow up.” “No, it doesn’t. And you don’t even have grandchildren,” I replied. That’s when things got nasty.

She called me an idiot and blamed me for being negative. And, as I understand it, for her not having grandchildren, despite the fact that her son is only 15 and our daughter has just celebrated her fifth birthday.

She chased me out of the house. When I returned two hours later, she blamed me for leaving her alone with the children.

“I find this vaccine’s side-effects worrying,” I told her. “You’ve only had your jab this morning and it’s already making you humourless and illogical and it gives you a Gestapo-like bossiness.”

“The vaccine gives me hope,” she said timidly.

Unlike Snapdragon, I don’t hope the vaccine will give me the winning Lotto numbers or entertain my dreams of imaginary grandchildren.

But I do hope it means I won’t have to sit behind my computer and wipe away tears after losing yet another precious old friend like AP Steyn.

To AP’s family – his wife Ursula, his children and his sister Marlize: My heart bleeds for all of you. No vaccine can ease your pain, but I pray that it protects other families from the agony you are suffering, because nobody deserves it.