I've noticed some articles recently on missed second shots. People say, they don't understand how or why someone would not show up for their second shot. Yet, I find it perfectly understandable.
Let's start with my story. I was able to get my first shot right near bus transit. But then when it came to my second shot, completely out of the blue, the location was moved to a different center. I didn't feel comfortable taking transit there, I didn't feel comfortable walking there and I didn't feel comfortable biking there. I ended up getting my second shot-but I ended up getting it a week late while I waited for a better location. But there were definitely moments when I wondered if I would end up getting my second shot-at least anytime remotely close to my first shot.
But that is the story of me, someone who doesn't drive (and who avoids Uber like the plague it is). Even for people who do drive, I bet for many driving was a factor.
Think about it-we have made our roads into war zones. Our roads have become an arms race of larger and larger vehicles. Not to mention vehicles that are more aggressive looking. Even if people aren't saying it, you have to wonder how many people quietly or even subconsciously are missing their second shots due to not wanting to face this war zone. Do we really think that if all they had to do was walk or bike ten minutes in a car-free space people would even hesitate to show up?
I know of many people who drove very far distances to get their first shot-some for hours. But there are two factors in that. Firstly, what people are willing to do for the larger protection of the first shot, they might not be willing to do for the second. Secondly, many people forget about the dangers of a road trip until they actually embark on one. So they might think nothing of it until they do it once...and then they may hesitate to do it again. I will also mention I think the second one is more common.
Worse than this is the outright discriminatory practices that have occurred in places like California where people have been denied COVID shots for not arriving in a car. This occurred even when shots were located near a transit station.
But why are we setting up a system that favors people driving to rural areas anyways? If people in rural areas don't want shots then we should be moving the shots to urban areas.
And shots in urban areas should be by transit and they should if at all possible be by the best transit possible. And for goodness sake we should be allowing people to use the transit to get there.
