Oakdale entrepreneur hopes this will convince fence-sitters to get vaccine
I’ll be surprised if Curtis Lineberger makes a million bucks off his vaccine awareness project. But I would not be disappointed.
Anybody trying to coax people undecided about vaccines to go ahead and take the plunger has my moral support. No promises on financial support, though.
A certain segment of our population has gotten or will get the COVID-19 vaccine without question. Those on the other end would not bare their arms if someone paid them.
Lineberger, an Oakdale retiree, says he doesn’t care much about either segment. He’s trying to reach what he calls the middle-grounders, those on the fence about coronavirus vaccines who might be persuaded under the right circumstances.
He thinks that could happen if people see others proudly sporting t-shirts, ball caps, wrist bands and masks emblazoned with his trademarked logo: Been CoVaxed. Which is his idea of a short and hip way of saying, “I got my COVID vaccine, and I’m proud and uncowed.”
“The more they share their experience, the more it will influence middle-grounders to get vaccinated,” he said.
Lineberger has wandered into a national debate over whether committed vaxers should go tell it on the mountain, with selfies, Tweets and the like, when they’ve received their shots and vaccination cards. Some say such displays — joined by celebrities like Dolly Parton, Michelle Obama and the Dalai Lama — help dispel vaccine skepticism.
“It’s not pushing on other people and telling them what to do,” Lineberger said. “It’s just opening an avenue for people to engage in that conversation.”
I like the message. I’ve repeatedly written on this opinion page that the sooner we get a broad segment vaccinated, the sooner we’ll reach herd immunity, allowing the return of something like normalcy.
I have no problem with the logo. The “o” in CoVaxed is a coronavirus icon, and the straight part of the “d” is a syringe. Simple, classy and — Lineberger hopes — catchy.
I just don’t know how many people will get behind Lineberger’s cause. A lot of people believe in crusades without going on them.
He’s counting on the first population segment above — proud vaxers — to carry the message on their bodies. I hope they will, but the cynical journalist in me sees more people just happy to get their shots and go their way without inviting fights in public with anti-vaxers.
I’m afraid I’ve become a bit jaded by people’s eagerness to make everything about politics. The local “don’t you dare tell me where to eat or what to wear on my face or stick in my arm” attitude is dishearteningly strong.
Sharing profits with nonprofit
I hope I’m wrong, and that Lineberger makes a million. By the way, he says he’s donating 10% of proceeds to the American Nurses Foundation. He got Nancy Cisneros, a nurse practitioner serving the underprivileged in Hughson, to model some of his Been CoVaxed swag and to do a video testimonial on his website.
“He knew that I’m extremely passionate about vaccinations and getting the word out to not be fearful, and I immediately jumped on board,” Cisneros said on the telephone.
If Lineberger’s name sounds familiar, maybe it’s because he served two terms on the Riverbank City Council and coached Downey High water polo in Modesto before retiring from a pharmaceutical job to Oakdale. Now 64, he’s still playing water polo on masters teams and enjoying five grandchildren.
“I don’t expect to change the whole world,” he said. “I’m not a big company; I’m a one-man show. If I can move one person from `not sure’ to getting vaccinated, and that person doesn’t then infect their grandparents, I’m winning.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
