if you think COVID is overblown, just the flu, not going to hurt you, came from a Chinese lab, or part of some bizarre plot by the New World Order.
it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been vaccinated because you haven’t had the time, don’t believe it works, think it contains a tracking chip, don’t trust science, think it needs more study, or are just lazy.
What matters is the unvaccinated are dangerous as hell. The more of us who get infected, the greater the chance COVID morphs again into something far deadlier and far more infectious.
Let’s talk freedom for a second. The old argument about where our freedom of speech stops is “you can’t yell “fire!” in a crowded theater.
Well, you don’t have the “right” to set a fire in a crowded theater. That is exactly what the unvaccinated are doing.
Even if COVID doesn’t get more dangerous, it is crystal clear the unvaccinated are why we may be headed back to lockdowns, mandatory masking and physical distancing, remote “learning” and all the awfulness that we are just now starting to leave behind us.
Not getting vaccinated is a “personal choice” to:
- expose yourself and your loved ones to COVID,
- tell your employer you don’t want to work,
- tell first responders and healthcare workers you don’t care about them, and
- make the rest of us pay for your healthcare if/when you get sick.
Those of us who are vaccinated can also make a “personal choice”;
- you don’t get to work around us,
- we won’t pay for your healthcare, and
- you will be held liable for infecting others.
What does this mean for you?
Get vaccinated.
Joe we agree on some points, and disagree on others. That is one of the joys of democracy. On this point could not agree more. I continue to have an exceedingly difficult time when i see “news” reports interviewing “health care professionals” who speak against getting vaccinated. The literature is there and the data is conclusive. I am not sure how much more emphatic one can be and to shout from the rafters GET VACCINATED!
Donald – thanks for the comment, and appreciate your perspective.
be well – Joe
Joe, well said, as usual. If you won’t get vaccinated for yourself, get vaccinated for others. Same with wearing a mask. We don’t smoke in the grocery store because non-smokers shouldn’t be unwillingly exposed to second hand smoke. We wear a mask so others aren’t unwillingly exposed to a potentially deadly virus.
thanks Dean
we have a common threat, and working together we can overcome the threat.
be well – Joe
If vaccinated people are getting Covid that means that they can spread it just as easily as he unvaccinated and are “dangerous as hell” as well.
Are we to wear masks 24/7 365? Maybe – Covid is NOT going anywhere anytime soon. Vaccines are just lessoning the severity of the symptoms and keeping people out of the hospital. For that I am thankful.
As far as “personal choice” is concerned in the way you presented it, I guess then insurance should stop paying for cancer treatment for smokers, insulin for diabetics and who continue to eat a sugar-laden diet, or maybe not pay for a bypass surgery for those who indulge on fried foods and continue after their surgery. Cancer, complications from diabetes and heart disease kills more people than Covid. I don’t see employers not employing people who smoke or who are obese or who have known heart issues.
I’m all for the vaccine but some of your logic doesn’t hold water.
Hello Melissa and welcome to MCM.
Thanks for the note.
Couple thoughts.
1. Vaccinated people are far less likely to contract COVID than unvaccinated people; vaccines are NOT “just lessening the severity of the symptoms” – I don’t know where you got that; please provide a citation.
2. Yes some vaccinated people do contract COVID; as you note the disease is usually much severe.
3. The vast majority of COVID cases and deaths have one primary cause and can be prevented by simple vaccination. The same cannot be said for the other causes of death which are much more complex.
Be well – Joe
Stop making this conversation complicated. We have a respiratory pandemic….the rules are: 1. get vaccinated, 2) wear a mask, 3) wash your hands, 4) stay out of large crowds. 5) if you are sick, stay home, get tested and if you have COVID or are exposed to someone who does – isolate. It is that simple
Thanks Anne – well stated.
be well – Joe
How about Natural Immunity? If you have already had Covid, should we get vaccinated?
Hello Darrell – we had this conversation back in June; credible research clearly indicates individuals that have had COVID benefit from a vaccination.
be well – Joe
Did not like my previous comment? Or is it still be reviewed?
Hi Melissa – It was being reviewed.
This is from the CDC site:
COVID-19 vaccines also help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html
Hello Melissa – yes we agree; i said the same thing and provided a citation.
be well Joe
I wonder if this would change if Health Insurance were to invoke a “known or should have known” exclusion similar to what is seen in liability policies? At this point, anyone who has NOT been vaccinated, would fall into this category and then their health insurance would not cover any bills–THAT might be an incentive to getting them to choose to be vaccinated.
Interesting question Karen – I don’t know enough about the legal issue to opine.
One potential issue – EMTALA regulations would require a hospital to provide emergency care regardless of insurance status, so facilities might suffer financially.
be well – Joe