My Mother Just Died of COVID in Wuhan

December 30, 2022

(The Atlantic) – Mom was entirely defenseless. She was one of the vulnerable elderly whom the government had cited as one of the main reasons for imposing its zero-COVID restrictions. Yet each time we asked her if she’d gotten vaccinated, Mom said that she had been discouraged by people from her old workplace at the university. They told her the vaccine was risky for her because of her age and fragile health—not enough was known, they said, about the effects of the vaccine on older people. My sister and I were outraged and in disbelief about this. After all, senior citizens had been the first in line to receive the mRNA vaccines in the United States. Another obstacle that hindered Mom from getting the shots was her immobility. When she finally heeded our advice and asked if she could get the vaccine at home, she was flatly turned down. But then, like many others, Mom also thought that because she wasn’t going anywhere, she was safe at home. (Read More)