Good morning, John.
So, this video could be very short. Uh, yes! Yes I would take a COVID vaccine. I would- I would spend 15 hours in a Target for a COVID vaccine. I would eat a blenderized Happy Meal, I would wax my chin.  I would give up coffee. I would walk around with Cliff Bars on my feet instead of shoes for a month. I would let Ruby Rhod be my roommate for a COVID vaccine!

The news that Pfizer Moderna, AstroZeneca, and others have had really promising results in their phase III trials is good! It's, uh, like I don't think people get how good this news is. 

Or maybe we're just, like, so overwhelmed with everything else in the world but it is... it's, like, the best news of 2020.

It was entirely possible that this first slate of vaccines --and these are the first ones-- wouldn't work! It was also possible that no vaccine would work.

It was also possible people wouldn't get any lasting immunity from even getting the disease, which is true for many other Coronaviruses.

It looks like we're finally getting lucky with something; that getting the disease does confer some lasting immunity and vaccines that expose our immune systems to, like, little broken off bits of the virus that can't infect you also confer immunity.

Now, there are things we still don't know. We don't know whether or how much getting the vaccine prevents you from spreading the disease.

It probably does pretty substantially considering people are testing negative, but, like, we don't know for sure.

We also don't know how long these vaccines last and we won't have a good idea about that for a pretty long time.

But I'm very excited by this. It's such good news, and I will immediately line up whenever I am allowed to to get this vaccine.

But I know that there's also a lot of hesitancy around vaccines, so I wanna talk about, like, the three main reasons why I wanna do this.

First, if you are concerned about the politician or politicians who developed this vaccine, like you don't trust Donald Trump or you don't trust Joe Biden.

Politicians, political leaders, don't develop vaccines, and the rules and systems we use to test the safety of vaccines did not change at all in the last year. 

Scientists and doctors very specifically, for this reason, chose to change nothing. They looked and they said 'maybe there are some things we could do to speed it up, but we're not going to do them because we don't want people to feel like we're cutting corners.'

There are things that we worked hard to speed up but the things that take time, we let them take the time, which is why it's taken so long.

So I want to get a COVID vaccine because I know it's gonna be safe, and certainly much safer than getting COVID.

Second thing, when we prevent ourselves from getting COVID, we aren't just protecting ourselves. Because every time somebody gets this disease they become a vector for other people to get this disease.

So by wearing masks, by distancing how and when we can, by taking a vaccine when it's available, we are keeping hospital beds free. Not just for people with COVID but also for anybody who is experiencing a medical problem or emergency.

And, that, given my track record, may very well be me. 

If we only imagine the direct impacts on ourselves right now, it will result in more death and suffering. And so I want to get a COVID vaccine so that I can live my life again without having to worry whether I am going to be the cause of someone else's suffering.

And, finally, we all need to do what we can to help frontline healthcare workers right now. They are having a year unlike any ever before, and these are people who signed up for jobs to help people.

All of the times when I have gone to the hospital, either with a broken bone or for my Ulcerative Colitis, these people have done tremendous kindnesses for me. And how we act during this pandemic is, in a very real way, how we give back to them them for the services that they have rendered to us in the past, and also will render to us in the future. And are giving to all of our neighbors and fellow humans right now.

So I want to take a COVID vaccine for them. I'm not gonna get to do it for a little while. I'm not first on the list and I shouldn't be. But as soon as they tell me I can, you best believe I'm gonna be in that line. 

It's understandable to be wary of new things and of big important things like a vaccine for a deadly pandemic. And I have healthcare workers and elderly people and scientists in my life who can help give me the perspective that I have. I understand not everybody has that.

I think I'm lucky to have the perspectives; I feel this isn't something being done to me, it's something that I want to do for myself and for other people. 

John, I'll see you on Tuesday.