To add to the joke that the Massachusetts vaccination rollout has been, I have to laugh at one of the things that they list as a “comorbidity”, meaning, if you do this (not if you have it, because it’s not something you have, it’s something you choose to do), you are eligible to get vaccinated over others right now. That “comorbidity” is smoking.
Yes, in Massachusetts they consider smoking a medical condition. Smoking is not a medical condition. It is something people choose to do. It will cause medical conditions. It will make your current medical conditions worse. And it could kill you. But smoking itself is not a medical condition and it should not be considered a “comorbidity”. By definition a “comorbidity” is a disease or medical condition that is simultaneously present with another or others in a patient.
The biggest joke is how Type 2 Diabetes is on the list (which I can fully agree with, being a Type 2 diabetic myself), but not Type 1 Diabetes. Yet smoking is. I also find it ridiculous that it lists one of the comorbidities as “immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant.” Um, don’t they know you can have a weakened immune system from something other than an organ transplant? Like Multiple Sclerosis. Which is what my husband has. It doesn’t even list HIV or AIDS. But if you’re an overweight smoker, even if you have nothing else wrong with you, you’re all set. Because being obese is one of the comorbidities also. Also, if you’re 101 and may not even be around for your second shot, which is what happened to my friend’s grandmother, it’s okay. At least she was able to get her first shot.
But, you know, priorities….
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