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Is 'Covid-19 vaccine envy' real? People feel anxious as others get vaccinated, call it 'logically unwarranted'

'My vaccine envy is such that I’m questioning if I’m really a good person after all. Let’s just forget about this when it’s over,' one user tweeted

As the world is slowly headed toward normalcy with the availability of vaccination for the novel coronavirus, many continue to experience vivid emotions and most of all, being envious, suggest reports. Even though vaccines are now available for everyone, many who are yet to receive them have established that they envy those who have already got the shots and also expressed “jealousy”. 

Many, sharing their opinion about others getting Covid-19 vaccines, told Los Angeles Times that vaccine envy has made them “question” themselves, as they find it hard to comprehend the feeling of anxiety and jealousy. 

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Peter Jacobson, 64, told the publication that he made only five trips to Trader Joe’s since the onset of the pandemic and each time he moved quickly to avoid exposure to the virus. In March, he ran into an old friend who had received her second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. 

Jackson reportedly started to feel more and more anxious as she talked about life going back to normal. “He was happy for his friend, but at the same time he wondered when he would experience a similar sense of relief. He also wanted to get back home. And fast,” the report reads. Meanwhile, Jacobsen said, “I was still in that pandemic mode and she’s relaxed. Vaccine envy is real.” 

What is vaccine envy?

Reports define vaccine envy as a feeling invoked with respect to all topics related to the vaccine. It can include frustration, envy when you see someone else receive the vaccine and you haven’t. However, these feelings are normal. 

Some people have even admitted to experiencing it. Emily Atkin, who accepted feeling an array of “negative” emotions, tweeted, “My vaccine envy is so strong, so negative, and so all-encompassing. It's also selfish and logically unwarranted. I know I should be happy for everyone. I know my time will come. But I can't help it. The wait feels like yet another punishment in the most punishing year of my life.” Another replied to that saying, "My vaccine envy is such that I’m questioning if I’m really a good person after all. Let’s just forget about this when it’s over." One tweeted, "Vaccine envy? I'm prepared to do everything in my power NOT to get one. I feel more anxious that people have put up with obvious bullshit for a year and are rushing to get this in droves." Another wrote, "I’m scheduled for my COVID vaccine! All of my vaccine envy is a mere two scheduled shots away."

Christine Harris, a psychology professor at University of San Diego who studies negative emotions has noted that those who have already got the shot should make sure they don't contribute to vaccine envy. “Envy is the desire for something that someone else has, and it’s an unpleasant emotion,” he said. “I think of it as a two-headed monster. There’s one head that wants to devour what the other person has, and the other head wants to chew on yourself for having such loathsome feelings."

“I think people are so focused on the joy they are experiencing when they know the lottery has come up for them that they forget many people are still suffering,” he further added.