Dirty Work

Sierra finally has a day off after doing an eleven day work rotation. She has errands to

run, people to see, and no work shifts to be at. She grabs her keys, and starts to head out the door

to go get groceries for the week. She hasn’t been able to go get groceries in over a week, and her

meals were starting to suffer. Her phone starts ringing like crazy, and she shuffles her things

around in her hands to be able to answer her phone.

“Hello?” She answers without looking at the caller ID, blindly searching for the key she

needs to unlock her car. She expects her husband has forgotten to add something to the grocery

list, and waves off the strange call in the middle of the day.

“Hi Sierra, we’ve gotten the first couple batches of the vaccine. When can you come by

to get it done?” She hears a voice she vaguely recognizes as the nurse of her assisted living

facility.

She climbs into her car, and rubs at her forehead for a minute trying to think through

what the nurse just said. She had known that her work would be some of the first to receive the

vaccine (Coronavirus, Utah, 2020), and she had been waiting for this call to be made. She’d been

talking about this with her husband for weeks, and they’d both come to the conclusion that there

just wasn’t enough studies done on it especially regarding fertility. They’d been trying to get

pregnant for months, and didn’t want something they thought was going to help completely

hinder their chances of having a family. “Are they requiring all of the workers to get it?” This

was something that Sierra had been researching quite a bit. With how new this virus is, there are

still a lot of decisions that haven’t been made. There hasn’t been any laws made that you can or

can’t mandate this new COVID vaccine. “While the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission] doesn’t prohibit employers from requiring the shot - especially when the flu is
severe - it has advised employers to encourage vaccines rather than mandate them.” (The HR

Specialist, n.d.)

“Well…. No, but we are highly encouraging it as we work with some of the most

vulnerable of our population.” The nurse says, and it seemed oddly rehearsed.

Sierra turned on her car, wanting to let it warm up while she finishes this conversation. “I

don’t think that I’m going to take it right now. Sorry.”

“So you want to let others take it first, and see if anybody dies or has any horrible lasting

side effects before you take it? You want to let others do the dirty work before you have to?” The

nurse tells her, and she can’t tell if the nurse is joking or being 100% serious.

She shakes her head, and tries to explain herself. That’s not the case at all, and she wants

to make sure that it’s not being spread around that she’s willing to let others be the guinea pigs

and she’s not. “No, that’s not it at all. I want to see a couple more studies done on fertility before

I commit to it. In a couple of weeks or months, they can say that it doesn’t have any effects on

fertility then I will gladly take it.”

“Okay then, keep an eye out. I think that we might have to have a uniform code for those

who decide not to get the vaccine. I’ll let management know that you are refusing the vaccine.”

The nurse says, her tone is immediately more somber than it was before.

Sierra knew that she would get a reaction, but she didn’t realize that it would be like this.

“Please let them know that I’m not saying that I’ll never get it, I’m just saying not right now. I

want a little bit more time, and like I said before, I want more studies done on fertility.”

She’d not only talked to her husband, but she had talked with other coworkers to see if

they were all getting the vaccine. There were more for the vaccine than there was against it, but
the few who said no simply wanted more time. “Being able to diagnose, come up with a vaccine

and administer it all within the same year just seems a little puzzling” (Pattani, 2021).

“I’ll let them know. Thanks for your time. I’ll see you tomorrow.” The nurse said quickly

before hanging up the phone, the dial tone echoing throughout the car. Well, that went well.