Envious of the vaccinated?

An exclusive preview from the latest issue of The Week magazine If you have trouble viewing this email, [read the online version](. NEWS In this issue of The Week --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear newsletter reader, we thought you'd appreciate this special preview from the latest issue of The Week magazine, where you'll find everything you need to know about the most important stories in news, business, technology, and culture. Today's preview comes from the Talking Points section. If you like what you read you can 6 Risk-Free issues of The Week](. Vaccine envy: The new national epidemic [The Week cover]( my house, we have a problem," said Nicholas Goldberg at the Los Angeles Times. "My wife has been vaccinated; I haven't." When she got her second shot, "I couldn't help feeling that she had crossed safely to the other side of a giant chasm, while I remained at the edge of the cliff." She can go out safely while I continue to cower at home. Like millions of other Americans, I am suffering from a bad case of vaccine envy. So far, about 15 percent of the U.S. population has gotten at least one shot. Vaccinated seniors have resumed socializing with one another and are racing to book vacations. For months, we will be a two-tiered society of "haves and have-nots," with the vaccinated returning to "a normality that remains forbidden to the rest of us." "I haven't wished I was older since I was a teenager," said Karina Bland at The Arizona Republic. But now, scrolling through social media and seeing one vaccine selfie after another, "I want to be 65." I'm even more jealous of younger people who meet their state's eligibility requirements, like my friend who qualifies as an educator because he works for a high school drama department. When a pharmacist friend got vaccinated before me, said Gene Weingarten at The Washington Post, "I hated her, which filled me with self-loathing." The Germans probably have a word for this complex feeling. "Call it shottenfreude." When I finally did book an appointment after weeks of trying — I'm 69 — I felt guilty for being one of the select few, while tens of millions still remained unprotected. Vaccine envy will lead to months of vaccine awkwardness, said Rachel Gutman at The Atlantic. Our social interactions will be defined by who's protected and who isn't. Early data indicate that COVID-19 vaccines "stop at least some transmission," but it's still possible that vaccinated people can serve as asymptomatic carriers and infect others. So if you've gotten your shots, determining what's safe to do depends on "whether your neighbors, family, grocery clerks, delivery drivers, and friends are still vulnerable to the virus." The immunized can safely eat together, and vaccinated seniors can go ahead and hug their grandkids. But until herd immunity is reached, people who've gotten their shots should still wear masks when in indoor public places and avoid crowds. If vaccinated people "throw caution to the wind," they'll only be prolonging this pandemic nightmare. [Try 6 Risk-Free issues of The Week]( [The week Logo] Copyright © 2021 The Week Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.. You’re receiving this because you subscribe to or signed up to receive emails from The Week. To unsubscribe from these emails, click [here](. The Week Publications, Inc. Registered address: 155 E 44th St Fl 22, New York, NY, 10017-4100. Further information about how we use your data can be found in our [Privacy Policy](.