Some suffering from 'vaccine envy' amid difficult COVID-19 vaccine rollout process in Arizona

Difficult COVID vaccine rollout process causing vaccine envy for some people

While many people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Arizona, many more are still waiting for their turn to get the shot, and that is causing envy in some people.

PHOENIX - While a growing number of people are being vaccinated in Arizona, there are still many people who are waiting their turn, and it's sparking something called 'vaccine envy.'

"The very first important thing is get the shots into people's arms. Why they don't go where the people are?" said one 80-year-old woman who lives in a retirement home, and has not been vaccinated yet.

The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, says she's been isolated since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She is wondering why the vaccine can't be brought to her retirement community.

"I know they have to have the big State Farm [Stadium] and those things, but to get to a lot of people with my little village -- we have a big parking lot. If they had some PODs, they can do the whole darn village in a day," said the woman, who, as of the night of March 2, has made an appointment to get the vaccine in a week.

Arizona State University Associate Professor Michelle Shiota says many people are feeling the so-called vaccine envy.

"What that means is that you have been accepting some constraints on your life because of this situation, that you're trying to be part of the solution and not part of the problem of keeping this vaccine from spreading, and you have been waiting to get your life back," said Shiota.

In some cases, social media may contribute to those feelings.

In Arizona, the vaccine rollout process has been a bit confusing and difficult for some people, especially when it comes to registering for an appointment and when a person is eligible to receive the shot.

"Now, we're hitting this point where different counties are using different rules, and different states are applying different rules on who is going to get it first, and in some places, those rules are being flexibly applied depending on who walks into the door on any given day," said Shiota. "That's where it can start to feel unfair, and it's not quite clear why someone else got it and others didn't."

Experts say to cope with vaccine envy, people should try to let go of control and accept the reality of the situation, and remember that it's a group effort.