ワクチン Vaccine

２回打ったけどあっさりかかって結構な症状が出た。自然免疫に逆行という医者は黙殺され、集団免疫獲得の大義も今や忘却の彼方。接種後に1,600人近く死亡したことを認めつつ、因果関係は認めない。打ちたい人は打てばいいが、国とマスコミの扇動は異常。

Despite having been vaccinated twice, I easily caught COVID and had symptoms as serious as those of a flu. Medical experts who say vaccination goes against natural immunity have been ignored in this country, and the cause of getting people vaccinated, which was to acquire herd immunity, has long been forgotten. Japan's health ministry admits that nearly 1,600 people have died after getting vaccinated, but they do not admit causality. Those who want to be vaccinated should be able to, but the incitement by the Japanese government and the media is everything but rational or reasonable.

コロナ？ Was it COVID?

急なだるさと喉の痛みに襲われ、2日間寝込んだ。熱っぽかったが家に体温計がないので測れなかった。こういう時世なので対面の面談はすべてキャンセルし、ウェブ会議のみ臨んだ。コロナにかかった友人に検査に行かないのかと聞かれたが、陽性の可能性があるのに敢えて人がいるところにいくのもどうかと思い、控えた。3日目には体調も回復し、結局コロナだったかもわからないまま終わった。（抗体検査でもすれば事後的にわかるのだろうか。）仮にコロナだったとすれば自分はかかっても無症状か軽症とタカを括っていたのは大外れで、インフルエンザ並みの症状が出た（でもそれ以上ではなかった）。と同時に自分がハイリスクグループのメタボである自覚を欠いていたことにも気づいた。これでもう体に悪くないはずがないワクチンなど打たずに済めば嬉しい。

Sudden lethargy and a sore throat put me in bed for two days. I felt like I had a fever, but I couldn't measure it because I didn't have a thermometer at home. In case I had COVID, I cancelled all face-to-face meetings and attended only web conferences. By the third day, I was feeling better, and I ended up not knowing if it was COVID. (I wonder if an antibody test would have revealed it after the fact.) If it had been, I would have thought I would have no or mild symptoms, but it was as bad as a flu (although not worse). That made me realize I am in the high-risk group of those having metabolic syndrome. I would be glad if I no longer had to take any more vaccines that can't possibly be good for my health.

お門違い Unreasonable Penalty

スポーツ界が公然とロシア人選手を排除していることに強い違和感を覚える。競技の場で政治的な発言をするなというのはわかるが、競技に参加する機会まで奪うのは、今の時代を生きる一般の日本人が戦時中に旧日本軍が行った行為について批判されるのと同じくらい理不尽だろう。特に違和感が強いのがフィギュアスケートで、（本人に意図があったかは別として）ドーピングを行った選手にオリンピックへの出場を許しながら、ロシアのウクライナ侵攻を理由に世界選手権に出場させないというのはどう考えてもおかしい。坂本花織選手がいい演技をして結果を残したのは嬉しいことだが、ロシア人選手と競っての銀メダルの方が、ロシア人選手不在の大会での金メダルよりも価値が高かったと思う。

I feel a strong sense of discomfort that the sports world is openly excluding Russian athletes because of the country's invasion of Ukraine. I agree an athlete should not make political statements in competition, but to deprive Russian athletes of the opportunity to participate in competition is as unreasonable as ordinary Japanese living in this day and age being criticized for the actions of the former Imperial Japanese Army during the second world war. It was especially absurd to allow a figure skater who was found to have doped (whether she intended to or not) to compete in the Olympics, but not allow any Russian skater to compete in the World Championship. I am happy that Kaori Sakamoto performed well and achieved good results, but a silver medal in competition against Russian skaters would have been more valuable than a gold medal in a competition without Russian skaters.