As more and more people become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, it’s no surprise that many are feeling a tinge of jealousy.
Here are five ways to healthily deal with your feelings of vaccine envy, as advised by a group of therapists.
1. Acknowledge that what you’re feeling is valid.
"Vaccination envy isn’t malicious, it’s very human. It is a natural response to seeing others receiving an opportunity for greater safety and wanting the same opportunity for yourself." Abigail Makepeace, Marriage and Family Therapist in Los Angeles, to Huffpost.
2. Remind yourself that every vaccinated person is a step closer to normalcy.
"The turning point does not arrive for individuals, one by one, as soon as they’ve been vaccinated; it comes for all of us at once, when a population becomes immune." James Hamblin, Lecturer at Yale School of Public Health, via Huffpost.
3. Realize you’re lucky to have the luxury of waiting.
"The people getting it now are at higher risk … contemplate if you would also be willing to exchange with them the factors that place them in a higher risk category." Abigail Makepeace, Marriage and Family Therapist in Los Angeles, to Huffpost.
4. Know that as annoying as vaccine selfies are, they’re ultimately helpful.
Photos of people getting the vaccine can help normalize the process and encourage others to make appointments.
5. Try to understand why you’re feeling jealous.
"The jealousy one might feel at learning that a neighbor, who seems relatively young and healthy, has been vaccinated already, may be trying to communicate just how anxious and ready you are to receive the vaccine yourself." Zainab Delawalla, Clinical Psychologist in Atlanta, to Huffpost
