Since when is getting a flu shot so cool?

I can’t remember a time when everyone talked with such pride about getting their flu shot. No one talked about it. No one cared. It was just one of those things we took for granted was out there and available.

But it seems like every other conversation I hear or am part of includes someone talking about getting their COVID vaccine: Did you get it? Which one are you on? Which brand? How was your reaction to the first one? How was your reaction to the second one? What symptoms did you have? Where did you get it? What kind of needle did they use? The list goes on…

One of the original inspirations for The Bubbler was the intersection between politics and marketing. I’m continually fascinated by how pop culture and media influences how people process information (or lack of) and how they decide to support and echo the things they do.

With a rich history of vaccinations we largely take for granted (aside from a few “anti-vaxxer” debates, now and again), I’m amazed at how fashionable getting a COVID vaccine has been. Everyone is talking about it. I can’t believe how many people have asked me if I’ve gotten one.

Naturally, I say “yes.” It’s what they want to hear, and they leave me alone after I say it. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t, yet. They have, and they feel good about it. Who am I to take that away from them?

Speaking of vaccines, whatever happened to the Spanish Flu, anyway? That’s still out there right? Why did we give up trying to “defeat” that?