If Only There Was A Free, Easy, And Readily Available Way To Protect Ourselves

Sometimes it's about more than just your narrow interests

It doesn't help that many Republicans have been stoking vaccine skepticism and outright hostility. The Delta variant is already spreading rapidly across the country. Many who choose to forgo the shot may claim they are making a personal decision. But the continued spread of Covid-19 affects us all. And the truth is, the virus doesn't care about so-called individual liberties. It simply infects whatever host it can find, Republican or Democrat, young or old, disabled, immuno-compromised, and anti-vaxxers alike.

If anything, remaining unvaccinated by choice -- and not because of lack of access or contraindicated health conditions -- sounds more to me like shirking an individual responsibility than exercising an individual right.

• Tina Sacks

Imagine that a silent killer is lurking somewhere out there in the ether. Of course, you can’t see it, hear it, or feel it. But that doesn’t really matter because there’s a way for you to keep it at bay. It’s a simple step- it’s free, easy, and involves you only making an affirmative decision. By doing this, you’ll be protecting yourself from the worst the killer has to offer, and you’ll also be helping to protect those around you.

Sounds simple enough, eh? In this case, of course, the silent killer isn’t imaginary at all. We’re talking about COVID-19, and that “affirmative decision” is getting vaccinated. One or two shots, depending on the vaccine you get, and you’re done. Sure, there may be some minor side effects…but then anything’s “minor” when compared to a lingering and awful death, no?

There’s nothing complicated about any of this. But, selfishly, a segment of the American populace has decided to reject the science behind the vaccines. Even worse, much of this cohort wouldn’t believe President Joe Biden if he told them water is wet.

After listening to Donald Trump and his lieutenants politicize and propagandize literally every aspect of the pandemic, the GOP has transformed itself into a death cult. Conservatives traffic in misinformation and dezinformatziya intended to generate popular distrust in those who actually know what they’re talking about.

[T]he explosive growth in COVID-19 cases can be attributed almost entirely to adults who have delayed or declined vaccination, providing the coronavirus additional opportunities to mutate into variants capable of evading our vaccines. In the United States, this is now an epidemic we have effectively chosen to prolong, a sad fact made pathetically risible by a certain ex-president who swings between stoking anti-vaccine paranoia and demanding credit for Operation Warp Speed.

Currently, the vast majority- something like 99.2% was the last number I heard- of COVID-19 deaths are among the unvaccinated. While some of those deaths are almost certainly children too young to be vaccinated, the overwhelming majority of those succumbing to the virus are those who’ve refused to be vaccinated.

Think about that for a moment. We’re talking about people who’ve been offered the opportunity to save their own lives…and they’ve declined.

“No thanks, I don’t trust the science.”

“I don’t know what’s in the vaccine.”

“I’m worried about the side effects.”

“Uh-uh. I’m not gonna let the government put a microchip in me so they can track my movements.”

“How do I know the vaccine isn’t going to alter my DNA??”

This has now because a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and with the Delta variant being incredibly virulent and contagious, anyone who’s not vaccinated stands an excellent chance of getting COVID-19. This is particularly true within non-White communities. Due to implicit and explicit healthcare bias, non-White communities have been more heavily impacted by COVID-19 than White communities.

(How do you account for the 29% of Americans who think that the vaccines contain a microchip that the government can use to track their movements?

Hmm…how many of those folks have cell phones, which actually ARE tracking devices??)

Regardless of skin color or ethnicity, the Delta variant is wreaking havoc in places where vaccination rates are low…like in several red states. Despite readily available vaccines and no shortage of information regarding the communicability of the Delta variant, there are still those who refuse to be vaccinated.

The vaccines are no longer “experimental,” a phrase that anti-vaxxers love to throw around as if it somehow invalidates their efficacy. At this point, with nearly 170 million Americans fully vaccinated, there is nothing experimental about the three vaccines.

Are they absolutely 100% safe? That’s doubtful…but what in life IS? Anti-vaxxers demand perfection from vaccines when the alternative is millions of Americans continuing to die from COVID-19. I got the vaccine because I determined that the negligible risk of side effects was in no way outweighed by the risks of being attached to a ventilator that I’d probably never come off of.

To date, America has lost just over 600,000 people to COVID-19. During the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1919, 650,000 Americans perished. Given the speed of travel today, we’re fortunate that we haven’t lost more, but COVID-19 isn’t finished with us yet. Depending on who you’re listening to, we’re either on our fifth or sixth wave. Some folks have stopped counting…because it no longer matters.

What does matter is that we have it within our grasp to save ourselves and each other. It’s not rocket science. You don’t even have to figure anything out or even think. All you have to do is roll up your sleeve and get vaccinated.

Or you can take your chances with the Delta variant. I have to tell you, though, I don’t like your chances once you’re on a ventilator…so, don’tcha think it’s time to get the damned shot already??