'Have you got vaxxed?' Getting jabbed has never been this trendy as Vax is announced as the word of the year by Oxford Languages 2021 edition.
It's a shot in the arm for COVID-19 vaccines, seen as the only way out of this pandemic. Vax is trendy, but getting vaxxed in an inequitable world is no walk in the park. While those in the developed world are already gearing up for the booster, large parts of Africa still await their first dose.
While rarely used in the beginning of the year, by September its use was over 72 times more frequent than at the same time last year, according to Oxford.
In a quote to The New York Times, Fiona Mcpherson, a senior editor for new words at Oxford Languages, said “All these other vaccine words increased, but nothing like vax. It’s a short, punchy, attention-grabbing word.”
Vax has spawned its own language, vax mandate, vax cards, fully vaxxed, anti-vax, vaxxers, vaxxists? No, that's not a word, but it could be? Perhaps for those who are pro-vaccines?
Vaxzervia is also the name of Oxford AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in the rest of the world. In India, it goes by Covishield. Covaxin is India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine.
For now, vax trumps shot, jab and the humble teeka. It may no longer be considered offensive to ask, "have you been vaxxed?"
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