Given that approximately 27.6% of adult New York residents have obesity, that means a not-insignificant sector of the state population currently stands to receive the vaccine based on their BMI.

BMI-based vaccine eligibility could represent a pivotal moment for the fat-acceptance movement, but it’s also a difficult one for many fat people.

“At first, I thought [my BMI qualifying me for the vaccine] was ironic because I may not have qualified had I not gained the weight I have during the pandemic,” says Catherine, 24, who will soon be receiving her first dose of the vaccine in Brooklyn.

“I’m already dreading some of the things people may say or think about me getting the vaccine, not only because I’ve gained weight but also because I’m unemployed.

It’s really hard not to feel like being both fat and unemployed means I’m worthless or lazy.” Catherine is glad to be receiving the vaccine based on BMI, but she’s also cognizant of the dissonance that a deeply diet-culture-addled society has inculcated in her: “It feels weird that I am ostensibly being rewarded for failing.”.

Absent much widely disseminated guidance about the process of receiving the still-new vaccine, many people whose BMI qualifies them are relying on others in the same position to gather information and help dispel some of the very real anxiety and trauma of having public attention called to your weight.

“I knew I was eligible for the vaccine according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, but I was nervous as to how this would be proved when I showed up for the shot,” says Yasmin, 24, who recently received her first dose of the vaccine in Austin.

Writer Samantha Grasso, 27, recently received the vaccine in Austin based on her BMI, an experience that she wrote about in a Discourse Blog article titled “I’m Getting Vaccinated Because of Fatphobia.” In the article, Grasso refers to BMI as “a white supremacist, fatphobic metric for health and health disparities,” noting that recovery from her own struggle with disordered eating was partially what brought her into the category that the medical establishment deems obese.

“I think BMI is kind of a crock of shit, personally,” says Matt, 29, who will soon receive his first dose of the vaccine in the Bronx.

It makes no sense.” Matt also notes that the experience of qualifying for the vaccine has allowed him to take the loaded topic of his weight lightly: “It’s the first time I can remember in which I’ve been able to be cavalier and joke around with other friends [who also qualify based on BMI] about my weight.”.