Today’s topic and the cliché in the title is linked to the oppressive pandemic that recently celebrated its one-year anniversary of subjugation over us all. Just when we thought we couldn’t take it anymore, the vaccines are on the scene. It’s amazing how quickly these vaccines have been developed and distributed, they’ve even made it to Senegal in enough numbers that I was able to get the first shot of Astra Zeneca 11 days ago. Enough time has elapsed that I theoretically have some pretty significant immunity (upwards of 70%), and I’m almost out of the danger zone of 15 days when those whose poor souls whos platelets allegedly get overstimulated by the Astra Zeneca vaccine have had clots/strokes.

Is this very rare but potentially lethal side effect of the AZ shot alarming? Of course. But I’m more worried about COVID than I am about blood clots. Better safe than sorry is my answer to the people who dumbfound me, including many Senegalese, who have vaccine hesitancy.

Dakar has been a great place to be during COVID, all things considered. The weather and infrastructure are such that a lot can be done outdoors, open air, and I’ve been able to socialize at beachside restaurants most weekends, although there was a curfew from 9 PM – 5 AM so that most places closed by 7 PM to give their staff time to get home. The curfew was (not coincidentally) lifted just after the recent round of violent protests against the President’s intimidation of opposition leaders. We had a couple weeks of security lockdowns on top of the COVID curfew. I was so inured to security lockdowns after 2018-19 in Haiti that I barely noticed the woefully underwhelming armageddon doomsday prepping I’d done here so far. I have subsequently added to the potable water supply stockpile (6 weeks’ worth). Almost ran out of beer, but still had plenty of booze. Some of my priorities are in order.

COVID 19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University

The community health center where I went to get my vaccine was not nearly as organized, or serving nearly as many people, as the stadium tours in the US. But what matters is I got that vaccine and a colored piece of paper that will serve as evidence of it and I’m hoping to proudly present that at the border of another country(ies) at some point this year, something I wouldn’t have thought possible a couple of months ago.

Many Senegalese I had spoken to about the vaccine have voiced skepticism and reluctance, but the ones I come into contact with regularly (my physical therapist and my housekeeper) have both come around and to have first round, so that’s a relief.

It was kind of a fluke that I found out where to get it, I had registered with the UN and on a national database and have heard crickets. But I was having dinner at this fantastic hotel in my neighborhood with the extraordinary proprietor, and she gave me the 411. Souadou is terrific example of self-made success that makes you believe in karma in this lifetime. She went to community college in Northern Virginia and paid her tuition by the money she earned as a housekeeper at the Ritz Carlton at Tyson’s. She internalized the ethos of “ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen” and has carefully chosen, trained, and empowered her own staff who are able to provide a level of customer service that is otherworldly. All of her managers are women. She pulled off the impossible and was able to get an unsecured commercial loan to build her boutique luxury hotel on the basis of her commitment and charisma, and she’s managed to pay it off, and, pay the salaries of her staff through 11 months of no guests by selling off personal assets. I’m rooting for her continued success.

Happy vaccining everyone. I feel such joy whenever I learn of one more of us getting stuck. Each jab gets us closer to normal!