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mommyblessing-fyi · 2 years

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Why trust social media vs. major news sources ?

12/18/21

Daddy Blessing was vaccine-hesitant for the longest time.

One of the things I’ve always cherished about him is that he’s typically open to changing his mind. This was different. Just about anytime the matter would come up he grew more resistant.

[ Blessing supposed her dad might be quite upset with her if she’d been the one holding out. ]

I can see how Daddy B could be swayed by social media controversies about vaccines. He’s shown me how Nigerians share videos of violent clashes in the moment via social media - stories that Nigerian mainstream news might miss, play down, or intentionally omit.

While I like to listen to BBC World Service reporting on Africa, Daddy B does not. In his eyes Great Britain is a colonizer, the oppressor.

I can imagine how people outside of Africa and the African diaspora might miss the nuances in BBC reporting that Daddy B finds objectionable. And while bias in reporting may be waning due to Black Lives Matter and increased attention to unintended microaggressions, trust isn’t earned overnight.

All in all, Daddy B is liable to trust social media over mainstream news, and perhaps especially over news coming out of the western world.

His primary reason for putting off getting vaccinated was concern over possible unforeseen side effects. I researched matters from all angles (and was hugely alarmed by the minuscule chance of death due to blood clots with the AstraZeneca vaccine !).

I set up our annual physicals early with hope this would give Daddy B the chance to discuss Covid-19 vaccination options with his doctor… but Daddy B wouldn’t talk to the doctor about it at all. Sigh…

How could we make a vaccination appointment for Daddy B ? If he changed his mind at the last minute, would it be possible to secure another appointment at a later date ?

Truman Medical Center/University Health at 2211 Charlotte Street in Kansas City, Missouri takes walk-ins from 7am-3:20pm Monday through Friday. I like the idea of going to a hospital versus a drug store or Walmart. Blessing and I got vaccinated there earlier this year.

I posted a note inside our front door with the University Health vaccination center’s details and pointed the location out to Daddy B when we happened to be driving by that way after hours…

How about a little vacation over Thanksgiving break to celebrate Daddy B’s November birthday ?

If we were going to travel, he’d have to get vaccinated.

Monday, November 8th, with heavy hearts, we attended the home-going of Blessing’s best friend’s dad. This father, adored by all, had been so alive to us. Now he was… gone.

As we drove in the cortege to the cemetery, Blessing wondered why a fellow on the roadside was taking off his hat. Daddy B explained, “out of respect for the dead.”

This dad’s passing is a complicated story wherein he was separated from all his family due to Covid-19 regulations at St. Luke’s. Circumstances surrounding his death painted a vivid picture of what being in a hospital Covid ward entails.

I continued to ask around about vaccine hesitancy in an effort to find out what seemed to sway people’s loved ones to get vaccinated at last. I saw that offering to accompany the individual to get vaccinated was a way to encourage and support him or her.

On Monday, November 15th I accompanied Daddy B to get his first Pfizer vaccination at University Health. As we waited for doors to open at 7am, we observed a nurse carrying a cooler of vaccines over from the pharmacy.

Then Monday, November 22nd we were off to St. Louis on holiday ~

Monday, December 6th Daddy B got his second shot.

And Wednesday this week Daddy Blessing called me up to get the address of the University Health vaccination center for a workmate ~

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