A New York Times Interview about Vaccine Envy

Last week, I received one of the more interesting emails I’ve read this year. It was an email from Jenny Gross, a reporter for The New York Times who is currently based in London. She reached out because she came across something I had tweeted back in March about a noticeable trend that is taking many of us unvaccinated people by surprise. It’s called vaccine envy.

In my tweet, I made the simple observation that many others before me had already made themselves. It read:

Seeing so many friends down south and across the pond getting vaccinated is giving me vaccine FOMO. Happy for everyone though, it's a big step forward. I wonder if we will get the vaccines fully rolled out here by Canada Day?

However, in her research, Jenny Gross somehow found my tweet. In her email to me, she explained that she wanted to chat with me further to get a few quotes that would contribute to her latest piece about the subject. In our call later that day, we discussed the Canadian immunization rollouts, coping with vaccine envy, and navigating the pandemic in the age of social media. She was a pleasure to speak with, and it was interesting to learn from her what else she has heard when talking to others around the world about the same issues.

In the finished article, the section that includes my quote is a small one, but it was a very cool experience to be included in such a polarizing discussion, and on a platform that’s as large as The New York Times, no less.

I’ve linked the article below, as both Jenny and her colleague Jesus Jiménez have put together an informative story that's a good read, so check it out!

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/health/covid-vaccine-jealousy.html