My wife and I received a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster shot on Tuesday. It little affected us that day.

Day 2 was different.

It’s nice to have retrospect. We were both experiencing pain and stiffness in our shot arms (left for both) by the end of day 1. Both of us were heavily hydrating but I was constantly drying out. By day 2, I noticed a drop in energy level, dry and burning eyes — seriously, I kept splashing my face and added drops to my eyes twice — and diminished concentration. Writing, where I’m juggling twenty sharp objects in my brain, was a flawed and troubled endeavor. She, though, had it worse. Her energy level went off a cliff and nausea rolled up on her. She took several baths to address a general assortment of aches and napped for almost five hours in late afternoon. Her appetite was done, although taste and smell weren’t affected.

My energy levels have jumped back up today, though I did spend an extra hour in bed this morning. The jab site remains stiff and sore but I’ve applied a topical CBD cream to it, which helps tremendously. My wife remained in bed longer. She reports her eyes are tired but she feels a lot better.

So, small matters for us. Nothing significant, and certainly worth enduring if the vaccine and boost reduces our chances of being severely impacted by COVID-19. Must say, though, watching Dopesick on Hulu did little for our moods. Born in the fifties, we remember different corporations being exposed for lying to protect profits and image throughout our lifetimes, like Ford, the Pinto, and exploding gas tanks. We also recall times when government malfeasance, through individuals betraying their public trust to enrich their situations, was exposed. Remember how doctors were paid to say that cigarette smoking wasn’t bad for you? Ha, ha, what kidders! Do you remember Enron? What about Love Canal? Should we discuss the Dupont C8 scandal? Other scandals involving real estate and financial markets of more recent memory rise through my consciousness when we talk about companies lying and government oversight failures.

So here comes Dopesick. Based on Beth Macy’s nonfiction book about the opioid crises in the U.S. with sharp focus on the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma, the limited series shows how an FDA cog manipulated a warning label that claimed Oxycontin was non-addictive, and then the battles by doctors, patients, families, communities, and the DEA to get the FDA to admit they fucked up and find accountability for Purdue and the Sacklers. Well, the Sacklers escaped prosecution and stepped away with tens of billions of dollars from the swath of death and destruction they spearheaded. The company went bankrupt and no longer exists. They’re paying out billions to states to help deal with the opioid crises but it’s a shitshow.

So, I do understand why some people are skeptical of the vaccine, FDA, and the corporations behind it. There’s been sufficient lying and failures for many to wonder.