Vaccination centers adopt stickers and selfie stations

The best photo I saw this week was a selfie of my stepfather who just received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In addition to the photo, they gave her a sticker that read “I got the vaccine!”

As the vaccine rollout continues, clinics and distribution centers across the country are adopting things like stickers and even selfie stations adorned with colorful backgrounds to help people celebrate the hit.

Selfie stations are set up as colorful backgrounds, often with pro-vaccine messages tiled with the name of the healthcare professional. It’s a good brand image. And hey, if a favorable social media track record has helped make some hip restaurants popular, there’s no reason they can’t work for vaccination sites too.

Added bonus – if the vaccines are given in a health care setting, it gives people a designated space to take pictures without compromising the privacy of other patients.

Vaccine stickers and selfies can increase confidence in vaccines. Just as the “I Voted” stickers were designed to remind people of polling day, the “I was vaccinated” stickers are designed to help people see immunization efforts taking place in their own community.

In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed stickers that healthcare workers can wear after being vaccinated. As they were among the first people in the country to get vaccinated, the stickers were an easy way for workers to start conversations about vaccines with their patients and colleagues – some of whom might be reluctant to get vaccinated.

Ready-made vaccination celebrations are also a way of dissuading people from sharing their vaccination cards on social media. These may contain personal information, and posting photos of them can help scammers get scammed. A photo of your vaccinated self sporting a sticker, on the other hand, does not pose as much of a privacy risk.

Stickers can serve the same purpose outside of the healthcare industry as well. But also; they are super fun. Tapping on a sticker is a chance to visually celebrate a time when there was so little to enjoy. The same goes for a selfie to share with the world. Of course, there are public health benefits to making vaccination visible. It is also pure joy.

I am not yet eligible to receive the vaccine where I am, and I probably won’t be for a long time. But after seeing so much death and suffering over the past year, it only brings me hope and happiness to see the relief in people’s eyes after being vaccinated.

Other people took charge of their vaccination celebrations. Not content with official offers, they dress their best, put on sequins, and even bringing some fun bandages to mend after the hit. Vaccinated people can’t yet throw a big party without a mask – but they can celebrate a memorable little victory. It’s fantastic.

There are still too few people vaccinated here in the United States and around the world. The deployment was messy, frustrating and unfair. It still is. Governments can still do a lot better. But more and more people are getting vaccinated every day. In fact, Friday established vaccination registries in the US and the EU.

Without a doubt, it is something to celebrate.

Here’s what happened this week.

Search

The coronavirus threatens to return. Here’s how to stop it.
The number of vaccines is increasing, as are the coronavirus variants. The pandemic is not yet over, but there are ways to make this next phase better than the previous one. (Apoorva Mandivalli / The New York Times)

Coronavirus reinfection will soon become our reality
As the virus evolves and time passes, it is likely that we will see more re-infections from the coronavirus. Here is how it might work. (Katherine J. Wu / Atlantic)

Coronavirus easily spreads in gyms when people are not wearing masks
A new CDC report this week looked at gym-related COVID-19 outbreaks. They found that indoor fitness classes that didn’t require people to wear masks allowed the virus to spread easily. (Amina Kahn /The Los Angeles Times)

Development

Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine backed by independent FDA committee
A single-injection vaccine received a unanimous green light from an FDA committee on Friday. The meeting came after an FDA report released earlier this week confirmed Johnson and Johnson’s findings on their vaccine. (Nicole Wetsman / The edge)

Moderna ready-to-test version of COVID-19 vaccine targeting disturbing variant
Moderna is preparing to test a version of its vaccine that directly targets a particular strain of the virus. The company’s existing vaccine does not work as well against this variant, so they are developing a new version. (Damian Garde and Matthew Herper / STAT)

Growing evidence that COVID-19 vaccines can reduce transmission, explained
When testing vaccines, companies looked to see if vaccines could keep people from getting sick. And all licensed vaccines do a great job of keeping people out of the hospital and alive. But large clinical trials weren’t designed to examine how well they can stop people from passing the disease from person to person. It’s a big question that researchers (and everyone else) can’t wait to find out. (Kelsey Piper / Vox)

Viewpoints

In every volunteer opportunity that I have participated in, you have made friends in the camp, you have formed quick alliances. To do this that day, when you didn’t even know who had been vaccinated and who hadn’t, you felt aggressive and dangerous. Even keeping the door open for the person behind you during the orientation visit could violate the required distance. I couldn’t quietly whisper to my shift pal about who was trying to cut and who was about to get out of hand.

– Irin Carmon writes about her experience as a bouncer at a COVID vaccination site in Brooklyn for Spy.

More than numbers

To the more than 113,507,393 people around the world who have tested positive, may your journey to recovery be smooth.

To the families and friends of the 2,519,257 people who have died around the world – including 510,467 in the United States – your loved ones are not forgotten.

Stay safe, everyone.