Perspectives

If a researcher were to sit down at the end of 2021 and tabulate and record the number of times individual key words were mentioned over the course of the year, “vaccine” would surely be near the top. The advent of COVID-19 vaccines and the key role they have played in slowing the spread of the virus and helping us get closer to pandemic’s end has not only been at the forefront of global discourse but has also served as a reminder of how effective vaccination – or immunization, as it is also known – can be in protecting us from a number of illnesses both mild and severe.

When I hear a truck pull up in front of the house and the pandemonium of dogs barkin’ would wake a hibernating mastodon, I relax. It’s only my neighbor, D.K., come to borrow something of his back.

Throughout the ages, our forefathers – and foremothers too – have been told that certain things bring bad luck.