Shots I Have Known

I'm not talking about shots of alcohol in this blog post!  I'm talking about shots meaning inoculations, as in vaccinations.  I've had many, many, and thought I'd mention them.  (See what happens when an old lady has too much time on her hands and not enough mental stimulation??)

I simply don't know what immunizations were standard in 1947 when I was born.  I have the traditional circular smallpox scar on my upper left arm and don't remember getting it, so I assume it was done in infancy.  I think I was given what was then called the DPT immunization, too:  Diphtheria, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), and Tetanus.  Also when I was an infant, I was given an injection of Gamma Globulin because my older sister had contracted measles, and my mother was worried that I would get it.  I developed a very mild case.  Just enough to give me immunity for life.  (I had it checked during a routine blood draw before a trip to Seattle where there was a measles outbreak just a couple of years ago.)

Along about 2nd or 3rd grade, there were outbreaks of Polio all over the country.  The disease was a killer, but those who didn't die were crippled for life, like President FDR.  In Danville, IL, where we lived at the time, there was an outbreak, so my best friend and I were not allowed to go to the public swimming pool in the summer.  And then...and then...during the school year...it was announced that there was a vaccine for Polio.  It was called the Salk Vaccine, after Dr. Jonas Salk who developed it.  School kids were to be vaccinated en mass at school.  Permission slips were sent home.  My parents signed as did most others, and my class was lined up in the gym.  Girls were in slips and boys were in underwear.  We were inoculated in an assembly line...and then there was a booster shot at another time.  And that was the end of Poliomyelitis.  Done.  Finished.  Disappeared in the United States.  (Later, an oral vaccine was developed, which honked me off because I had to have the shots and not just drink something.  Sigh.)  This was in the early-to-mid 1950s.    

And then, the Navy was sending us to Japan in 1957, just 12 years post-WWII.  The military required that the whole family get immunized for a whole bunch of diseases.  We reported to the Navy clinic once a week for at least 10 weeks to get our shots.  For my 10-year-old self, it was a nightmare.  I hated needles, but I was a good little girl and did what I was supposed to do.  It served no purpose to resist.  As clearly as I remember, we had a Smallpox booster (which didn't "take"), shots against Cholera, Typhus, Typhoid, with two of those requiring a booster shot, a DPT booster, and God knows what else.  I was immunized against diseases not really found in the U.S. but who knows what we would catch in Japan?  

Actually, what we caught in Japan was a virus that went around the world...a pandemic that didn't catch too much attention.  It was called the Asian flu.  Several of my family members got it, including me.  There was no shot for that.  One of the ladies on board ship on our way back to the States died of it the day before we docked in Seattle.  She was the mother of four.  A pall fell over the ship.  Couldn't wait to get off the next day.

A number of years ago, in my old age, my doctors told me to get some immunizations.  I was directed to get a flu shot every year.  I have.  My pulmonologist wanted me to get two different immunizations against pneumonia.  I did. Due to my childhood experiences with so many needles and so many shots, I never, ever, though I would go somewhere and ask to be immunized!  Then along came COVID-19.  

I can't begin to talk about how awful my life has been because of that virus.  I am a high risk person due to age and underlying health conditions.  I haven't seen my family in person for 14 months and counting.  It kills me.  So finally, a vaccine was rushed through and was offered for old people first.  I latched on for anything to help get me/us through this nightmare.  I had my first immunization on Feb. 10th, with my second scheduled for Mar. 8th.  

Never have I been more grateful to be stabbed with a needle.  And never would I have imagined, due to my past experiences, that I would willingly ASK to be stabbed with a needle.  If vaccinations cause autism, I am a prime candidate, but I am just normally strange...not on the Spectrum at all.  I don't want to jinx myself so I probably shouldn't say this, but I simply cannot remember the last time I was acutely sick.  Please, God, grant that it stays that way!