The pandemic has given Americans a new vocabulary of words and phrases that would have been confusing just two years ago, like voices, anti-maskers, PPE, and zoom fatigue.
A new Expletive is also produced.
The word listed in the online city dictionary describes a person who bragged about their COVID-19 vaccination to the point of intolerance. To be polite, let’s just say it’s a variation on the word your Boston cousin might yell if someone cuts him off in traffic. It’s rude and vulgar, and that’s the point as the word describes someone you probably don’t want to be.
But some people revel in the term.
On Twitter, that large seething mass of vaccination selfies, some people boast of being that particular kind of boast, which seems to be evidence that the virtue of humility has been shown through technology and narcissism as a door opener. Of course, selfies and internet sharing isn’t evidence of narcissism, a serious mental disorder. And research has shown that people with low narcissistic traits have roughly the same number of selfies as people with higher scores.
But if Narcissus looked lovingly at his reflection in the pool today, he would be wearing the T-shirt that said, “Fully vaccinated. You’re welcome.”
Or maybe the one who says, “Fully Vaccinated Club: Educated. Motivated.”
And for the record, some people who refuse to be vaccinated are also kind of disgusting about having Vax on, Vax off, with enough selfies, it’s all signs of virtue.
The urge to talk about a COVID-19 shot (or two) is based in part on excitement and relief. We’re all so done with the pandemic, so eager to get back to normal, whatever that is. And many public health experts support the trend, saying the photos and videos are helping people overcome fear of such a rapidly evolving vaccine. (The vaccines used in the United States were not officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but were given emergency approval.)
In India, which this week saw the world’s highest daily infection rate since the pandemic began, hospitals have set up “selfie booths” to encourage people to take photos and share them on social media, The Indian Express reported.
Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, an epidemiologist from New Delhi, told NPR, “I believe that such videos, pictures and social media nudges definitely help many to make a decision. A happy person after vaccination can allay some fears and is always helpful from a social science point of view. “
Selfie stations have also been set up by health care providers at vaccination sites in the United States, including Massachusetts and New Jersey.
But some selfies, at least according to the Urban Dictionary, may seem more by themselves than public health. This is especially true if they are not spontaneous but planned.
Selfie or self-promotion?
Will Storr, a London-based journalist and author of the 2017 book Selfie How the West Was Possessed, said in an email that some people who post vaccine selfies have a story in their head that tells them it says: “I’m such a hero,” but the people who look at the picture often go “which one (the new expletive). “
“There is one exception. Here, for various complex reasons (mostly cultural, as far as I can tell), some ethnic minority groups are being vaccinated at much lower rates. So we saw some high profile members of these groups making noise about their vaccinations, but for obviously good reasons. ”
But for the most part, the difference between selfie and self-promotion is a moral judgment that exists in the mind of the person viewing the selfie, Storr said.
In other words, is Liz Mair – the GOP strategist who wore a ball gown to get vaccinated and then posted a dozen pictures of herself on social media – a heroine or a showoff? You have to choose.
The same goes for the University of Illinois gymnast, who executed a routine perfectly and then pulled a cheer card out of his undershirt to cheer. Evan Manivong said the idea started as a joke with his teammates, but at some point the joke got serious and he practiced moving before the March meeting. A still image of the move now towers above his Twitter profile.
Or how about the Canadian choreographer who performed a dance on a frozen lake after each of his recordings and published it on YouTube and Twitter? (And also four days after the second shot to show he was feeling fine.)
Gurdeep Pandher said he did so “out of the joy, hope and determination that I share throughout Canada and beyond for the health and wellbeing of all.” But the video also gave him quite a bit of fame, bringing tens of thousands of “likes” and undoubtedly new subscribers to his YouTube channel “Gurdeep Pandher of the Yukon”.
Keep calm, keep scrolling
The Pandher videos and the response to them illustrate the dangers of vaccine photos, even if for the most part they are received very positively. In America in particular, such photos can have a touch of privilege, especially since vaccination rates vary widely around the world. North America leads the world in vaccination with 41 doses per 100 people, according to the New York Times vaccine tracker. Africa has the lowest rate, 1.1 doses per 100 people.
And people who post vaccine selfies have also been punished for seemingly reconciling them. One person responded to Pandher’s tweet by saying, “Why did the Yukon get vaccines through Ontario or other provinces? Yes, your happy dance is fun, but there have been 72 cases in the Yukon. Sorry, I am not celebrating your joy. “And one person commenting on Manivong’s site angrily asked why a healthy 20-year-old had already been vaccinated.
There are other, more practical reasons to be careful about showing your official CDC vaccination card. Security experts and even the Federal Trade Commission have warned that criminals can use personal information to identify your date of birth. (It’s unclear why it matters whether the dark web knows if you’re Team Moderna or Pfizer, but the FTC suggests only posting photos of our bandages.)
In the meantime, you don’t even have to get a vaccine to be hated for a vaccine-related selfie. Conservative radio host Glenn Beck recently posted a photo that at first glance looked like he was about to get a shot, but in fact it showed him making an obscene gesture that resembled a syringe and needle with his hand. The headline was “Hey CNN, I have your vaccine selfie here,” apparently in response to CNN’s Brian Stelter who asked why Fox News personalities don’t post vaccine selfies. (Beck has said that it is not an anti-vaccine but that he is not getting one as he and his wife have already had COVID-19.)
Beck’s post drew nearly 14,000 “likes” and no insignificant penalty, including one person who found that President Russell M. Nelson, president of Latter-day Saints (of which Beck is a member), President Russell M. Nelson, took the vaccine and released a Photo of his first dose given in January.
As Storr says, everything is in the eye of the beholder, at least when it comes to coronavirus vaccines. Selfies are an occupational hazard for anyone who spends time on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and it doesn’t cost anything to be friendly. If you don’t like the attitude of a bride in her wedding dress receiving a vaccine, say “Bless Her Heart” with an exaggerated southern accent and keep scrolling.
But when this is all over and people start posting selfies of their shingles vaccine, let’s all stop following.