AS NEW MUTATIONS OF COVID-19 POP ALL OVER, THE SHOT

(Ed.'s Note: Having weighed our options and with the warning by the World Health Organization that the  global risk from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is “very high” based on early evidence and could lead to surges with “severe consequences," we finally broke down and went to get our booster (third) Moderna shot.

Free and relatively painless we received ours from the Valley Doctors' Clinic at 2300  Central Blvd. and were out the door in less than five minutes. 

We respect the right of others to decide whether to get the booster, but having received the first two without any adverse effects we chose to get the third to ward off any new mutations and to protect others if we happened to be asymptomatic and infect vulnerable persons. I have an 89-year-old mother who has fought off infection for the better part of two years and we'd like to keep it that way.

This morning my left arm felt heavy and I had a general – but very slight – malaise with some aching bones. We'll stay at the homestead and pop a few ibuprofen to address the discomfort and are out of commission for at least today. 

As we said, we respect people's right to refuse the vaccine, but since we deal with a lot of people daily, we did not want to put vulnerable people or those with  pre-existing conditions at risk. The staff at the Doctors' Clinic invites those who want one to stop by their office on Central Boulevard. Better safe than sorry.)