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Ask Amy: Vaccination questions raise privacy concerns

Amy Dickinson, Tribune Content Agency on

Dear Amy: I have always been very private regarding health and medical issues.

I don't want to discuss with friends, family, or strangers whether I've had a flu shot, mammogram, colonoscopy, etc.

I find questions about these things extremely intrusive. I have always been able to dodge the questions and change the subject.

How do you suggest I respond to inquiries about whether or not I have had, or plan to get, the COVID-19 vaccine?

I've already found people to be extremely aggressive in demanding to know what a person's plan is, even to the extreme of not wanting to associate with anyone who can't satisfy their nosiness about whether they have had the shots.

I understand that this is a contagious disease, a global pandemic, and the nonstop media coverage increases the intensity of people's reactions, but just the thought of having these pushy medical conversations makes my skin crawl.

 

Any thoughts?

— Mum About Medical

Dear Mum: I share your aversion to discussing medical issues.

However, your colonoscopy or mammogram status has absolutely no bearing or impact on anyone else’s health. Your vaccination status might.

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