Here we go again!

Will it be a new ritual, two or three times a year?  I mean the Covid booster, of course.

I finished my two-shot Pfizer series back in February 2021.  Seven months later, I was boosted (or "boostered," as I like to say).  And now, yesterday, I received my second booster.

The U.S. government seems rather ambivalent as to whether the average American needs a second booster, at least this soon after the first booster was given, presumably sometime last fall.  But the government experts seem more enthusiastic when it comes to the "elderly," which now apparently includes everyone over the age of 60 or 65.  

The CDC itself recommends first (Pfizer) boosters for everyone aged 12 or older, and leaves it up to individuals aged 50 and over whether to seek out a second booster.  The CDC does require that a second booster come no earlier than four months after the first.  I hardly know anyone under 50, so it feels like the entire universe is eligible for that second booster.

I have no question at all as to the safety of the booster, and I conclude that it's at least more probable than not that the second booster will provide me with an increase in immunity.  The medical profession is devoted to the distinction between increased immunity from severe illness or death on the one hand, for which the first booster supposedly still provides protection, and increased immunity from even "mild" contagion on the other.  It's those words "mild" and "severe" that disturb me.  I have no interest in testing their boundaries with my own health.  I was happy to err on the side of caution by getting that jab in the arm on Thursday.

My only concern is that in another four months I'll be headed for Scotland and Italy. Both of those countries are now experiencing an incidence of Covid much higher than that in the United States (but far below some of the levels we've seen over the past two years).  Their numbers do seem to be moving in the right direction at present, although we now have the new BA-2 subvariant to haunt our minds.  

Will I need a third booster before setting off for Europe in August?  I'm sure the experts will still be arguing, and I'm also sure that -- unless Covid has become a trivial concern by that time -- I'll be wanting that additional protection.  If the same standards exist for a third booster as for the second, I won't be eligible for a third booster until August 13 -- just two weeks before I fly to Glasgow.  That timing will work out ok for me, assuming I can get the shot as soon as I qualify.

Side effects?  As I've mentioned before, I've had no side effects from my first three Covid shots -- or, for that matter from my last two flu shots.  Twenty-four hours after my second booster, I still have no symptoms.  Either I no longer have any effective immune system at all to be disturbed by these shots, or I have an extremely competent immune system that gives each shot its  immediate attention without getting all riled up and giving me irritating symptoms.  Symptoms that might -- to a frustrated and undiscerning mind -- seem almost as bad as Covid itself.

Anyway, I'm pleased with having received my second booster, and after a week or so -- when enhanced protection kicks in -- will feel quite brave as I rub shoulders with my fellow man.

But I'll still wear a mask in enclosed public places.