At the end of January, something I’d been dodging for almost four years hit me square and knocked me down.

Yep, I got COVID-19; used one of the test kits I still had around (if you think yours are expired, note that the printed expiration date may be extended, which you can find through some simple internet searching). All the symptoms were there, plus the line on the sample under the control line told me for sure. I got it.

Being someone who lives at least a large portion of my life online, I posted that, and promptly heard from a wide range of people asking me if I was now ready to admit the whole vaccine and public health effort around COVID-19 was a scam by Big Pharma and/or the Deep State.

This is a conversation (I hesitate to say dialogue) I’ve been in since COVID-19 first erupted, in early March 2020. I had a more “public facing” job then, and even before the national alerts and lockdowns were announced, I learned quickly that just talking about mitigation and precautions in the first days of March provoked a strong pushback.

Yes, the politics got tricky and weird after mask mandates and calls for vaccination went national. But I’m talking in those days before all of that, when we were less sure about what a coronavirus was, or how vectors worked, and even before Tom Hanks was announced as having it or NBA games shut down before the final whistle.

Me, I’ve gotten a fall flu shot since forever. I did not realize until after we got into the controversies around COVID-19 vaccines that Ohio has a history of running around 40% of all adults getting a flu shot.

And I note wearily that right now in Licking County it’s just under 60% have had even one COVID-19 shot, ever, falling to 14% even as current as the bivalent booster.

Meanwhile, there’s some very real concern that basic flu shots are less popular than they had been, what with the political controversies around vaccines in general, and even childhood vaccines are falling behind to where measles are on the upswing.

My sincerest sympathies are with public health officials in general, and the Licking County Health Department in particular. I’ve worked with past and current leadership there for many years, and I would say they are about as political as a “Yield to Oncoming Traffic” sign. They are working on addressing our health on many fronts: we still have 17% of adults in this county smoking regularly, 20% binge or heavy drinking, and STDs on the march. They walk a fine line on COVID-19 issues, I know.

So let me just say for myself: I think being fully vaccinated kept me from getting sicker than I was, and I appreciate my doctor’s care which was supported by my vaccine status. Talk to your doctor, and consider taking protective steps for your health.

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he’s gotten the booster, and is glad he did. Tell him how you take care of yourself at [email protected], or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.