This is NPR's Life Kit, I'm Michelle Martin. You probably noticed this yourself. People

are making up for time lost during the COVID pandemic, having weddings, hosting cookouts,

going on vacation trips, and as well heading back to in-person school and to the office.

But the health crisis is not over, and people in different parts of the country are taking

very different approaches to that fact. So we thought this would be a good time to brush

up on some ways to handle those potentially tricky situations, like asking how you got

your shot or talking with those who didn't. On this episode of Life Kit, Vaccine Etiquette,

I talk with Journalist and author of Books about Etiquette, Stephen Petro.

So let me just jump right into the question of booster shots. I mean, the government says

that they'll make booster shots available for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine starting

next month. And just like with the first round of vaccines, I'm sure there will be people

who will be wondering why some people got a shot and some people have not. Is it okay

to ask somebody if they plan to get the booster shot or if they've already done so?

The question everybody should ask themselves before they ask someone a question is, why

do I want to know that? And if the answer is this information will be actionable to me

in some way, then it's probably a fair question. But if you're just curious, then it's probably

not. And if someone's getting a booster shot, it's really not going to be germane to your

life. What if it is germane to your life? What if you're sort of similarly situated in

age or something like that? Like how would you ask the question? Well, so there, if it

is actionable and perhaps you want to understand better who is eligible and how to get that,

then it's fair to say I understand you got a booster shot. I've seen people posting

this on Facebook and hope that you get a coherent answer. And I also hope that those

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