PCV: Paid Caribbean Vacation

When joining the Peace Corps, they make you sign all kinds of papers saying they will give you full medical insurance. It is the best insurance I have ever and probably will ever have in my entire life. Mostly because I don't have to pay for any of it. It's nice being taken care of so well and there is no one better to thank than you. Yes, that's right. You. Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Q taxpayer in the United States of America.

While that's great and all, it does have its draw backs. It's probably the only section of the government that will believe in preventative care. Why you may ask? Because they are footing the bill. It's quite simple. The government pays for it if I get sick. So, it is in their best interest to keep me healthy.

The problem begins when they start poking us with everything under the sun that anyone in the country you are serving in has ever become sick with. To this day, I am vaccinated against:

• The Flu
• H1N1
• Yellow fever
• Typhoid fever
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Meningitis
• MMR
• Polio
• Rabies
• Tetanus
• Malaria.

Those are just the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. Most of these every person (or every US citizen) is required to have to enter formal education so its no big deal. I don't mind for the most part, but we also don't get a choice either. Until coming to Belize, I had never had a Flu shot in my life and didn't want one.

Yesterday, I got the H1N1 shot that is required by Washington D.C.. We are not allowed to say no, and despite my objection, I now have a hole in my left arm. Now, I may be a bit out of date, but last I heard the H1N1 vaccine was in experimental stages and hard to get. Most people that want the drug cant get access to it, and the numbers of those who can get it are very few. So why then does the federal government mandate that all Peace Corps Volunteers in the world have this shot?

What kind of sense does it make to give experimental drugs to people who don't want it when the people that do want it cant get it? I guess this is just another reason why the health care reform bill did so poorly. It would be horrible if everyone were given the medical health care that I receive, without my permission, in order to keep them from getting sick no matter how strong their immune system is. Just another example of all the lovely privilege I am lucky enough to complain about.