There is a hot topic among us senior citizens.

It’s even bigger than talking about Social Security and what kind of Medicare supplemental insurance each one of us has.

It has even surpassed talk about how many and what kind of prescription drugs you have to take every day. Or what parts of your body have been replaced – knee, hip, shoulder, etc.

No, the hot topic is the COVID-19 vaccination.

Get a group of seniors together and that is all they can talk about.

Did you get your COVID shot yet? Did you just get the first one or have you gotten both? Was it the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccination? Or did you get the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine?

Did you have a reaction? Were you sick the next day, or tired, have a headache, body ache, felt itchy, have stomach issues or maybe you sneezed?

Old people love to talk about their ailments. I know I do.

Then there is the question about what all you had to go through and do to get the shot.

How many places did you sign up with? How long were you on hold on the phone trying to get an appointment? Did you get an appointment in more than one location?

Where did you have to go to get the shot (like a clinic or a drugstore or maybe even the parking lot of a major sports arena)?

I was recently on a quick little trip to Florida, which is, of course completely filled with two types of people. Young, spring breakers and old, retired codgers. And not many people in between. Except maybe at Disney World where a variety of ages of folks go.

I was with a bunch of old codgers in Florida.

Several had wild stories about getting the COVID-19 vaccination and how they had to sign up all over, even in more than one state, then travel a hundred miles or more to get to it and then wait in a long line and then felt sickly for a day or two.

I was slightly embarrassed to relate that I easily made an appointment at my local UHD Hospital without being put on hold, then had to travel just one whole city block to go from my home to the hospital for the shot and spent a total of 20 minutes getting it – and that included signing in, getting the shot and waiting the required 15 minutes to see if I had any reaction.

I only had a bit of a sore arm. Not really any other issues.

Nobody was impressed with my tale. It was pretty boring.

To be honest, it is not just senior citizens getting the shot(s). Many younger folks are too, such as teachers, medical people, emergency personnel and others.

Soon, more and more will get the vaccination. By this summer, they say, just about everyone will be able to get one if they want one.

And why wouldn’t you?

There was one senior citizen who said he was not going to get a shot. His reason was he didn’t like needles. My answer was, nobody likes needles. Nobody jumps up and says ‘alright, I get to have a chance to get a needle poked in my arm – I can hardly wait!’ On the other hand, nobody likes being sick with COVID-19 either.

They say about 20 percent of the population, or 1 out of 5 Americans, will refuse to get the shot for one reason or another.

I can’t think of a good enough reason not to get it.

Can you?

So, did you get your shot yet? Or will you when your turn comes up?

You can check out the vaccination information in the Faribault County Register this week. It lists how many doses of vaccinations have been given in the past week and how many more will be available in the current week.

Unfortunately, we receive this information on Tuesdays, which means it is always a week behind for our printing schedule.

Still, it does give some helpful information, including which groups of people are currently qualified to get the vaccination. Currently UHD is still listed as giving first doses of the vaccine to those 65 and older – us senior citizens.

But, eventually that age will be lowered as they continue to receive more vaccine and get to the point where anyone who has not yet received a shot will be able to, not just us old codgers.

This coronavirus pandemic deal is not over. Despite some numbers of cases going down, and the loosening of restrictions, it is still something we should all be cautious about.

And getting that free vaccine sure seems like something everyone would want to do.

So please get your shot when you can. Both for you and the people around you.

Besides, then you and your friends can sit around and talk about all the details of getting the COVID vaccination, just like all us old folks do.

Beats talking about the weather.