Suspended autumn

A summer with too many "stone guests", a suspended autumn. Even the brainiests say it: the pandemic is not over. Freedom but "at a gentle pace" also in the natural exaltation of a summer that unfolded, after two years of restrictions, between heat bubbles and explosions of infections. They have been our travel companions when we went from the kitchenette to the courtyard or by plane, by train, by bus even in autumn. It was a summer with the first "stone guest" who was not invited, but persisted in staying there and changing his clothes every moment: after "Omicron 5" here is "Centaurus" and more. C'est la vie!

Beyond all the news - some even questionable such as that of the no-vaxes who ask for a lockdown for the vaccinated (a slightly paradoxical request for someone like me who saw his brother killed in 5 days) - the newest and most certain is that by the end of the year, presumably in November, anyone who wants will be able to make a totally new flu vaccine, in which there will also be a booster with antidotes for all the variants that have emerged so far in the incredible evolution of the pandemic. Meanwhile, who can make the fourth dose? Over eighty, over 60, immunosuppressed, RSA guests, those who have had the third dose and Covid, those who have not done the second and third, all those over 12 with pathologies. And do it!

Where and how? To book with your family doctor, just call the practice and make an appointment. On the other hand, pharmacies can be reached through the regional vaccine booking sites.
Again through the regional sites, it is also possible to choose the vaccination center. Some Regions have activated the possibility of vaccinating even non-residents. Specifically, it was possible to get vaccinated "on vacation" in Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Trentino Alto Adige, Lazio, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia. Summer does not facilitate reservations, but the approaching autumn can be lighter for everyone. It takes: responsibility, prudence, the desire to get involved to avoid further suffering.

They have been uncertain, nebulous months together with the other stone guests: the war in Ukraine, the political crisis, the economic one, the evaporation of the gas. But we will make it, despite a strange summer that spared us nothing: from dangerous attempts at political ruptures and crises in the midst of an economic whirlwind, to endless war, to the incipient economic crisis, to the autumn that does not bode well .
We'll make it because the demand for the fourth dose is high; the ASL response a little less, however... We'll make it because the heatwave hasn't extinguished common sense in almost everyone. We go to the mountains, to the sanctuaries, to the sea, but with the disinfectant in the bag. You sit outdoors but with caution; we went back to washing our hands even when we entered the church...

Gian Mario Ricciardi
NP August / September 2022