“How are you qualified?” someone asked bravely in the comments, unleashing what would become the first of a series of shady touchpoints where sharing my vaccine status opened me up to investigation and possible judgment.
Whose business was it if I had co-morbidities or special circumstances that made me eligible for the vaccine? What responsibility did I have for letting others know that I did not cut the line without sharing personal information?
The more people I spoke to, the more I realized that sharing my vaccine status is a trickier issue than I imagined. What else had I missed in my rush to share my status? Maybe I shouldn’t have shared so quickly.
Social pressure is real
Sharing your vaccine status with friends and family and on social media can be a flood of support – and it can also lead to unwanted scrutiny, questions, or even backlash. That’s what I’ve been through.
“We debated putting selfies in the vaccine because our comorbidity allowed us to get it earlier than some friends who also wanted it. Since everyone couldn’t get it right away, I felt relieved and guilty knowing it so many others were waiting, ” said Courtney Finnerty, a parent who stays at home in Rochester, New York.
Finnerty eventually shared her vaccine status to normalize the process for others.
Work and the decision to disclose
While the Americans with Disabilities Act protects employees from their employers sharing their vaccination status with others, “your employer may be entitled to information about your vaccination status,” said Margaret Riley, a University of Virginia professor who teaches nutrition and drug law. . , health law, bioethics and public health law. That’s especially true when being unvaccinated is a particular threat to others – examples include restaurant workers, teachers who personally instruct students, and health workers in medical settings.
Some worry that their employers might force them back to the office before they feel safe sharing their vaccination status.
“I admit that I’m quite concerned that it means my job will bring me back to the office sooner,” said a friend who works in the New York City publishing house and who was afraid of being mentioned because of possible backlash from the employer. , which did not particularly support workers during the pandemic.
Others fear that sharing their vaccine status could be politicized and cost them business.
“It’s tricky. From a monetary perspective and from a business owner’s perspective, vaccination means I don’t have to pass the cost of my ongoing Covid-19 testing on to my customers,” said Heather Gold Casto, a chef. and events caterer based in New York’s Hudson Valley, who has recently been vaccinated and has to undergo regular Covid-19 testing.
“But there are also times when potential customers book me based on a disagreement about the vaccine,” she said. “It’s kind of in line with not talking about politics. I would like to book clients based on my capabilities, not my beliefs. More specifically, I don’t want to be passed over because of my beliefs.”
“Workplaces and businesses are likely to treat people who have not been vaccinated and those who refuse to disclose whether they have been vaccinated in the same way – telling them they cannot participate in certain activities,” said Kayte Spector-Bagdady. , an attorney and bioethicist who works as an assistant director at the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine and as an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School. That could be things like dining in restaurants, or attending movies or shows in theaters or other cultural events in indoor locations.
What if you need to disclose your status?
Should you share your vaccination status with someone? It all depends on the context of the situation, ”Riley said.
Some employers may ask for your status to protect other employees or the patients, students, or customers who want or need to visit them.
What if you refuse to disclose your status?
“Theoretically, you can always refuse to reveal that you have been vaccinated, but it can come at great costs, such as not being able to go to the doctor’s office, work in person or travel,” said Spector-Bagdady.
“Since there are no official vaccine passports, there is no real way to be sure someone is telling the truth,” Riley said.
We have been here before
Recent choruses of “sharing your status” conjure up similar wording around another virus that has been around for a few decades and that has a great stigma attached – HIV / AIDS.
“I think the reason there is a backlash against vaccine status sharing is similar to that of PrEP and U = U over the past 10 years,” said Damon Jacobs, a marriage and family therapist based in New York City who has worked with the LGBTQ. and HIV-AIDS community.
A positive way to consider whether you want to share or not, Jacobs said, is to lean into the moment and share your status as a way to open up and create a more inclusive and loving environment that helps others feel safe. to feel to do the same. .
The decision is personal
Until the general population of adults caught up, many who had a head start may find themselves in this vaccine purgatory, where some were given access to vaccines due to specific suitability for reasons that are not always publicly clear. That means that two people in the same age range or location may not be qualified at the same time. Because of this, those vaccinated before the vast majority can feel a paradox of relief and gratitude, as well as guilt and worry.
“Whether or not you’ve been vaccinated is your own private medical information,” Spector-Baghdady said. “Places like hospitals or your doctor generally cannot share that information without your written consent. But there are likely to be more and more circumstances in which you want to share your vaccination status. For example, a small group of friends might want to share vaccination status with any fears of people take away. ”
Reality check
The truth is, Covid-19 does not magically disappear when you get vaccinated, so we shouldn’t treat this milestone as the most important thing in terms of how we assume others are eligible to access the vaccine and how they decide to share the news.
“The vaccine has been touted as our ticket back to a ‘normal’ society. However, many people are concerned about returning to a ‘normal’ society, probably because that idea is simply not possible,” said Alexandra Lo Re, a clinical. Researcher. Social worker based in Oyster Bay, New York. “We will never return to a world where Covid-19 does not exist.”
Sharing your vaccine status is more loaded than you might have thought, but the truth is, we sort this out on the spot. There is no playbook, there is no holy grail. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to how or not to share your vaccination status.
You know your circumstances better than anyone and are better able to decide what you like to share with whom and when. Rest assured that you are not alone in navigating this new terrain full of questions and uncertainty.
And if you got the vaccine, you’ve already made the most important decision.
Allison Hope is a writer and born in New York who prefers humor over sadness, traveling via television and coffee while sleeping.