And that’s where my laissez-faire attitude about the framing of these vaccines comes in. Someone like me — not only willing but eager to get the vaccine — won’t be further inclined to accept it by thinking of this as a “Trump vaccine” or “Biden vaccine” or seeing a celebrity or prominent public health expert get the shot. Yet if that’s what it takes for others — understandably wary of the process or skeptical of partisan players or worried about unknowns — I say absolutely go for it. Embrace it. If association with a person or political party or whatever is what makes the inoculation feel safe, focus on that link.
And if someone justifies the vaccine to you in those terms, which you find unpersuasive, maybe leave that one bubble unburst. “We can’t wait for the Trump vaccine so we can get back to normal,” joyed a Christmas card my friend’s family recently received. If this is said to me, as I expect it will be eventually, I’ll have to bite my tongue. But I intend to bite it, because another person getting a COVID-19 vaccine is indeed a move back toward normal, and normal is what we need.
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