Why Aren't You Vaccinated?

Why aren't you vaccinated?

"It was developed too quickly to be safe"

   Actually, the technology that made that possible has been in development for decades.  Some day it could be used to cure diseases like Sickle Cell Anemia.

"It changes my DNA"

   No, it takes the virus and changes IT, so your body recognizes the virus and goes to work making antibodies without it possibly killing you."

"People with the vaccine can still get Covid."

   Yes, they can.  I won't get sick enough to be hospitalized, but I can still carry the full viral load and transmit it to you, and it could kill you or people you love.  Get the vaccine - even if I don't know you, I still don't want you to die.  Even if your political views are opposite mine, I still don't want you to die.  Unless you're a Canadian Thistle in my yard, I don't want you to die.

"The government can't control me."

      I guess you'll be wanting to mail back those relief checks then.  The government isn't making you do anything, yet.  The government's role in this is to protect its citizens from harm, including you.  Public health isn't political.  By the way, wear your seatbelts and don't drink and drive.

"I'm young and healthy.  I won't get sick."

   How about that 11 year old daughter of yours?  She can't get the vaccine, and even if you have no symptoms, you can pass it on to her.  The Delta variant is affecting children differently than the original virus - kids are on respirators in hospitals in the south where vaccination rates are low.

"I've heard the side effects from the shot are bad."

   My personal experience was about 10-12 hours of a temp of 99.8 and body aches after the second shot.  I woke up the next day feeling perfectly normal.  I'm glad I had those symptoms - it tells me my body was making antibodies against Covid-19.  Some folks only get a sore arm, others no symptoms at all.  

"First they said we shouldn't wear masks, and then said we should.  I don't trust the science."

    When Covid-19 first hit the US, I worked in a small walk-in clinic, where folks would grab a whole    box of masks from my desk and walk out with them.  That happened on a bigger scale across the country, and mask manufacturers couldn't keep up with the demand, leaving the very people who take care of you when you're sick vulnerable.  Now there's a good supply, and the science shows they work.  This is a brand new disease, and people just like you and me are studying it and letting you know what they know as soon as they know.  Expect that info to change as they learn more - the theory of gravity wasn't developed overnight either.

"They're implanting microchips."

       I can turn the lights on and off now with my mind.  <eye roll>

"It's a hoax."

   Tell that to my friend who was on a respirator for 6 weeks before dying.  Come on, you're smarter than that - don't be a chump.  Sources of disinformation know you want to believe that, so they're feeding it to you.  Call your family doctor and ask your questions.  Don't do your research on Facebook or Dr. Google; you'll only end up confused and angry.

"I just don't want to."

   If this was Ebola, and there was a readily available vaccine, would you want to stand by and watch your family, friends and neighbors bleed out of every bodily opening, or would you ask them to get the vaccine?  What if you were the source of the infection?  Covid-19 is more transmissible than Ebola.  There are plenty of people who would miss you if you were gone.  Get the vaccine.

"You haven't convinced me.  Just not gonna do it."

   Okay then.  That's your right.  Just like anything else, your actions have consequences.  You might not be able to get on an airplane for that dream trip to Europe - some nations are already doing vaccine passports.  If you want to eat out at the fabulous restaurant in NYC, sorry, only vaccinated people are admitted.  Your employer has the right to enforce vaccinations, so welcome to unemployment!  Just as you have the right, so do the people impacted by your actions.  

Both Things Can Be True

 In the past week, there were two trips to the very edges of space, not by NASA astronauts, but by non-government employees.  Two of the passengers were billionaires.

Twitter has been flooded with criticism aimed at both of these men.  Their money could be spent saving our planet, feeding children, etc.  Or 90% of the money in the US belongs to 1% of the population.  Or just "Jeff Bezos is evil" (I guess Richard Branson is slightly more likeable).

On the other hand, these trips are paving the way for future commercial space travel, with rockets that can be used more than once.  Industries like mining that are hurting our planet can be moved to space.  It's no longer science fiction that an asteroid, hollowed out, can safely and comfortably hold tens of thousands of people.  And Jeff Bezos gave away $200 million dollars today to two do-gooders to do with what they please.

Both things can be true.  

In today's uber-polarized world, EVERYTHING has to fall on one side or the other; my side or your side.  It's nothing new - the Wright brothers were laughed at when they attempted to fly.  And today, the founder of several airlines is paving the way for commercial space travel.

Billionaires and millionaires have helped to build this country, for better and sometimes worse.  Railroad tycoons of the 19th and 20th century invested in railroads because they recognized the profit that could be made by transporting wares quickly to their destination.  Many of these men were ruthless and would do anything to enrich themselves.  And ordinary people now had the means and ability to travel.  Oranges from California could be experienced for the first time by settlers in North Dakota.

Thomas Edison was ridiculed when he introduced a machine called a kinetoscope.  It took photographs and moved them through a reel so it appeared that the pictures moved.  Only one person at a time could watch the film, but Edison and others recognized the potential of the idea.  So then the projector was invented, so that the moving pictures could be shown to many people at a time.  Today, high-def images are streamed into our living rooms instantly.  

Yes, there is great inequity in our country.  But the people who played by the rules and became billionaires aren't to blame - the rules are.  It's easy to point the finger at Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson as being responsible for the woes of our world.  It's much harder to do the work to change the rules so that the rest of us get a piece of the pie.  

We don't have to be angry about everything.  We were told as children to "reach for the stars".  Today, we're closer than ever.