Have you received your first COVID shot? Have you been fully vaccinated? It is a nice feeling to be more protected from this disease.
What did you pay for your vaccine? I hear that Uncle Sam is picking up the tab for you. Let’s imagine that you actually had to pay for the shot. What do you think it would be worth? $20? $100? $1,000? More? It is hard to put a value on peace of mind about health. I am grateful that millions have been vaccinated.
Then there are the billions who have not been vaccinated. I live in Honduras, where less than 5% of the population had received one shot as of June 17, 2021. Kenya is at about the same level.
COVAX, founded by UNICEF and its partners, is an international non-profit designed to help get the world to herd immunity, though it actually has a modest goal: to get 20% of the population of poor and medium countries vaccinated. This problem is too big for the governments of individual countries to handle. So far, global herd immunity has been slowed down by wealthier countries refusing to share vaccine supplies, as well as a lack of money in countries that want to purchase the vaccines.
The mission of COVAX is just to deliver vaccines to the countries’ departments of health; then the countries take over administering it.
My suggestion is that you “pay it forward” by helping less privileged persons get immunized (if they want it), especially if you didn’t have to pay for your own shots.
You can donate at the GAVI (Vaccine Alliance) website https://www.gavi.org/donate They say the vaccines cost $5 per shot. Just donate what you can. If you don’t own $20, you should keep your money. But if you have more than $20 and have been jabbed, it is time to pay it forward. ~~~
Sister Alegria lives and works in the Amigas del Señor Monastery in Honduras, which has a covenant relationship with Multnomah Monthly Meeting in Portland, OR (NPYM).