If ever there was a politicized issue that should not be, it is the debate over vaccinations. Unless you have a legitimate reason for being ineligible to take the Covid-19 vaccine, you have no rational reason to not get inoculated.
I have three reasons — a health reason, a civic reason and a political reason — for urging all unvaccinated folks to roll up their sleeves and get a literal ounce of prevention injected into their arms.
The Health Reason
First, the health reason. It is about your health, not mine. Frankly, I have no reason to worry about you because I am inoculated and – according to the overwhelming information and statistics – my chance of getting Covid from you is extremely small. And even if I do, I will probably have little to no noticeable symptoms.
Looking at those statistics, those dummies who are refusing to get vaccinated are making each other sick – potentially very sick and even dead. I do not live in that world, fortunately.
As far as I am concerned, the only innocents in the non-vaccinated world are the kids who are still too young to be vaccinated. Fortunately, the are not as susceptible to Covid-19 – although a little more so with the Delta Variant. They have no choice, so we all must do whatever to prevent the youngest kids from getting sick.
In Chicago, we used to say it was okay when gangsters knocked off each other. Not okay when innocent bystanders were injured or killed. I sort of feel the same way about those not taking the vaccine. You are knocking off each other. The vast majority of those who are hospitalized or dying are those refusing to get vaccinated. Those folks are dying of stupidity.
I think not getting vaccinated is unfair to those who cannot – and, I do care about those dying of stupidity. I do not like to see anyone die needlessly. I may actually care about you unvaccinated folks more than you care about yourselves.
And then there is the big health picture. Universal vaccination – and even herd immunity level vaccination — will put an end to the Pandemic for everyone.
The Civic Reason
As a citizen who has been vaccinated, the scientists tell me that I can go anywhere at any time without a mask or other extreme protective measures. The Covid-19 Pandemic is in my rearview mirror.
BUT … those not getting vaccinated are limiting my “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Because of you, I still must don a mask to enter certain establishments. Because of you, I hardly find another subject on the daily news shows – other than Trump bashing, of course.
Because of you, many of the fun summer gatherings are being cancelled. I could not go to President Obama’s 60th birthday party. Okay, so I wasn’t invited. I would not have gone anyway. The airfare to Nigeria is too expensive – even for someone who is one percent Nigerian. (Yes, that is what came back from my DNA test. Go figure).
Because of you, there are all sorts of consternation among the public about masks, social distancing, and obsessive handwashing. Fearmongering has vaccinated people wearing masks everywhere – and unvaccinated people wear masks nowhere.
The Political Reason
In their constant pursuit of false narratives with which to attack all things Republican and conservative, Democrats and the left-leaning Fourth Estate are using, spinning, and abusing the issue of the unvaccinated as another hypothetical and hypocritical cudgel.
They claim that you folks are not getting vaccinated because of your loyalty to President Trump. They sell that snake oil even though Trump and virtually every Republican leader have called on the unvaccinated to get the shot.
They say that despite the fact that in interviews none of the unvaccinated give Trump and Republican discouragement as their reasons. For some, it is just personal bravado. They are not afraid of catching the virus or what their outcome might be. Many others have unfounded fears of the vaccine – acquired from obscure social platform sources. Some even fear the small cases of real side-effects – even though the risk is less than the symptoms of the virus, itself.
Even though more than 30 percent of the unvaccinated are Democrats, 50 percent Republicans, and the rest “others,” the left uses disinformation campaigns to claim only Republicans are rejecting the virus. And to what do they attribute that lie? The basis on the lie that Trump and Republican leaders are discouraging vaccinations. A lie built upon a lie.
While the political claims regarding the virus are totally and disgustingly dishonest, they do gin up the Democrat’s base to hate Republicans even more. That attack on the GOP brand is nothing but a callous strategy to influence the outcome of the 2022 midterm election.
But as Joseph Goebbels noted. Tell a big lie often enough, and more and more people will come to believe it. Unfortunately, that is what is happening with the Democrats politicizing the issue of the unvaccinated. Getting vaccinated would take away that bogus political narrative from the Democrats and their media allies.
Perhaps the unvaccinated Democrats do not care if their political party blames it all on Republicans. Okay. I understand. But that should be a further incentive for all the unvaccinated Republicans to get the shots. If Democrats want to play that game, let THEM get sick and die. At least they cannot say I did not try.
Summary
Those are my reasons for wanting all you unvaccinated people to get the shot. But you should have your own reasons. Don’t you feel a little jealous that I can go around all day without undue fear of getting terribly sick or dying. I do not worry who is sitting next to me in a restaurant. I do not worry if I am in the middle of a big crowd. I can give and accept hugs, kisses, and handshakes without rushing to get a Covid test.
Even though I was never overly fearful of the Covid virus, having shots made me feel free again – a feeling I did not fully enjoy for more than a year. There was almost a sense of euphoria as the subtle concerns vanished and the ever-present warning signs became meaningless to me. I was reminded of that portion of a lyric …” Free again … lucky, lucky me .. free again.” I can assure you, it is a far better feeling than being confined to bed with chills and fever.
So, there ‘tis,