by Tom Kando
I have to write about Covid again. I have to say the obvious.
Anyone who hasn’t been asleep for the past few weeks should already know this: The pandemic is gaining steam again. We are blowing it. And this time, there is no excuse. It’s not the virus. It’s those people who are not vaccinated who are causing this.
All the numbers are going in the wrong direction again. I’ll spare you the exact figures, you can check them out yourself. But here is a summary of the sad story: Daily number of infections worldwide: rising again Daily number of deaths worldwide: rising again Daily number of infections in the US: rising again Daily number of deaths in the US: rising again Daily number of infections in California:: rising again Daily number of deaths in California: rising again Daily number of infections in Sacramento: rising again Daily number of deaths in Sacramento: rising again We all know about the new, more virulent variant(s), etc.
But here is the thing: Variant or no variant, we HAVE THE SOLUTION IN HAND, but some people refuse to use it! What lunacy is this?
Six months ago, we started a massive vaccination campaign which promised the speedy end of the pandemic. And then, for some unfathomable reason, half the population began to drag its feet, dilly-dallying or outright refusing to take the vaccine.
HALF the population remains unvaccinated! That is, only 48.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated, while 55.9% has received one dose. The daily number of vaccinations has declined by 80% over the past three months!
There is not a single argument against taking the vaccine. It is extremely efficacious, there is ample supply, it is free, the side effects are minimal. IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE.
What is the matter with people? They are not only behaving in a suicidal fashion; they are endangering OUR lives. Their behavior is criminal.
The anti-vaxers speak of human rights, your individual freedom of choice, etc. But this has nothing to do with human rights.
When the polio vaccine became available in the 1950s, Americans were still rational. The people readily and willingly underwent vaccination, and that was the end of polio.
People have been protecting themselves with vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and other diseases for decades. Often such vaccines are mandatory (for some travel, public school attendance, etc.).
It’s the same thing with a myriad of other protections of public health and public safety. From seat belts to motorcycle helmets, from anti-smoking ordinances to drug laws, traffic laws, and all the other requirements of civilized society.
I thought that we were a civilized society. But faced with the worst threat to public health in a century, half the population suddenly rejects the very thing which it had accepted for generations: MEDICAL CURE!
The imbecility of half the population’s reaction to the Covid vaccine requires more than kind-hearted “persuasion.” Speaking of vaccine “hesitancy” is much too kind. These people are a threat to society. A Covid vaccine should be mandatory in many settings, as other vaccines and other public health requirements have been for a long time. This should be the case in many public environments such as public transportation, schools, restaurants, theaters, hospitals, offices, etc. Why is it okay to ban smoking in such places, but not to ban a deadly virus? Is this not absurd?
The other day I went to the dentist for the first time in a year, and after the dental assistant had messed around in my mouth for an hour, she revealed that she had not been vaccinated. This is outrageous.
Some people have joked that there should be a “Darwin Prize” for the stupidest and most self-destructive position taken by someone: Those who refuse to take the Covid vaccine are more likely to become sick and to die. This can be seen as a form of Darwinian natural selection.
20 comments:
How can I post this to Facebook and twitter?
June Gillam
Bravo, Again. How can we post this to Facebook and Twitter?????
Needs to go out to more people.
I agree. Unfortunately my granddaughter is one of the stupid ones and refuses to vaccinate her baby and herself. Arguments don't help.
Tom, I so admire your willingness to "say it like it is" for you... along with your statistics and other actual data. It is frustrating to see the "excuses" for not taking the vaccines.
I thank June and Margo for your support.
I have posted this on my Facebook page as a public post.
But I no longer have a Twitter account, for the time being, after my account was hacked.
If you Google "European-American blog" and click on it, you get a slightly different version of this blog and this post than the one I e-mailed you. Then, you click on the title of this article, so that this is the only article in front of you. At the bottom, there is a Facebook icon. You can click on it and share this post with the public. As to Twitter, I guess if you have an account, you can enter this article as a link in your Twitter account, I guess.
Thanks to Hutch, too
Tom, as usual, you are right, and persuasive though in this case, that should not be much of a challenge. As Dr Fauci says: There is a pandemic among the un-vaccinated. And it affects us all in so many ways among which: we, the vaccinated, remain at risk to some degree and some of us (count me in) have weak immune systems and wouldn’t do too well is we got the virus. Then, those who refuse to be protected are breeding ground for new variants, some of which will be much more severe and resistant to vaccines. This nonsense could last for years.
Is there anything we can do? Could the vaccinated become as militant as those anti-vaxers? You give us a hint when you refer to ‘no smoking’ places and when you say you went to the dentist only to find out the assistant was not vaccinated. What if there was a strong, organized, movement that reluctantly recognized the right of those who don’t want to be vaccinated but also exercised our right not to patronize dentists, stores, etc. that do not post at their entrance that their staff has been vaccinated? Perhaps also that they authorize entrance and want to service only people who have been vaccinated. If they lie and I get sick, there are laws against putting people in danger. The details and implementation, as always, need to be thought out carefully, and maybe some of your readers might help.
I was trying to convince someone on the phone this morning. His argument was that God was all the protection he needs! He’s in another city, but I was thinking of calling up his church and asking about their stand on the issue and whether they preach against criminal selfishness in other than abstract and meaningless terms.
Thanks for this. I have vented vicariously through your blog.
My favorite irony is this: Remember the outrage over (imagined) ObamaCare "death panels"? That American citizens would be denied certain health care procedures? Can you imagine if this situation were altered slightly so that anyone who voted for Trump was denied a life-saving medical intervention, and you could only get it if you voted for Biden?
This is one of your best ever. Bravo!
And, Rbt. Kennedy, Jr. is one of the major anti-vaxxers. You probably saw the story that 12 people spread 65% of anti-vaccine information
I thank Edric, Sylvia, Science Thrillers, Lita and Scott for their comments.
Scott is providing some interesting information.
Science Thrillers describes an unimaginable dystopian scenario. If such a thing were to happen, then obviously there would be justification for a vastly magnified January 6 type insurrection - a genuine revolution. But Joe Biden’s temperament is less dictatorial than just about any politician I can think of.
Edric’s comments deserve a separate response: He is voicing precisely the sort of thing I have been thinking about: Must we move towards some more drastic policies to put an end to this seemingly endless pandemic? And then, what about implementation and enforcement? When I say “drastic,” I don’t mean anything dictatorial. I mean things which we already do; we have smoking ordinances, the regulation of the consumption of alcohol and a myriad other laws and mandates that are obeyed. Nothing new. Why the population cannot get its arms around Covid and treat it the same way it treats other menaces to society is beyond me.
Tom, well written & to the point! My cousin & best friend are un vaxxed. They are college educated women. I cannot believe it! One of the water aerobic instructors at Gold River Sport Club is un-vaxxed. I will never attend her Wed. class. As for your dental hygienist(if she is a RDH, should not be allowed to see patients. I would tell the dentist you are going elsewhere. What does that say about him or her. If Anita & I can beat the Hep C virus(oral meds for me) then good heavens, there is brilliant science research out there. I truly thought I would die of Hep C, I’d had it for so many yrs, undetected. Yes, I trust & believe in good science.
Hi Tom,
Over the last forty years, I have read 15 different books about vaccinations written by medical doctors and nurses, but only one by the vaccine industry. If you read one or two of these books, you may become slightly wary of the vaccine industry. After reading four or five of these books, you would probably not voluntarily choose vaccines for any of your health needs.
With all the media feeding off the same pro-vaccine bullet points, it seems “unpatriotic” to be anti-vaccine. You have always challenged the status quo. I challenge you to read a few well written books, written by health professionals about the efficacy and serious downsides of vaccines before considering all who disagree as lunatics.
And yes, I trust and believe in good science, but only after due diligence.
John L Mayfield, D.C.
Tom, you got me thinking, but it turns out that you didn't convince me. Shades of a 'modest proposal, I posted this on Facebook.
I am an Anti-Vaxer. I want it to be a hundred-year war. I want to make sure Covid variants develop that require yearly vaccination for those meek enough to submit to that shot in the arm. Not in mine! I am a patriot and I know my rights. I want variants to develop that cause death waves to sweep this nation and the world like the 1919 flu pandemic did which caused more deaths than World War I itself, or like cholera and the plague did in the Middle Ages. I want my Grandchildren to know they owe it to me if they have to live with the daily hardships and insecurities of a permanent pandemic. When we visit old cemeteries and read names and ages on the tombs, we often see the names of two or three children in the same family who died within a week and we know what took place. Those were the days! I want them back for my grandchildren and their grandchildren. That will be my generation’s legacy: the Greatest Anti-Vaxer generation.
I thank (Dr?) John Mayfield for his comment.
I suppose his message is a good reminder that some humility (on my part) is in order. Okay, so I am not a physician, and I haven’t read the professional literature about Covid, the Covid vaccines, or any other vaccine.
In the end, we are all condemned to some degree of ignorance, or at least uncertainty.
The best we can do is to approach life PROBABILISTICALLY.
With regard to the pandemic and vaccines, I have trusted the opinions of reputable experts (e.g. Drs. Fauci, Gupta, etc.), and the sources I respect (e.g. Johns Hopkins). We have seen the precipitous decline in Covid infections and deaths from the moment mass vaccinations began, half a year ago. That is prima facie evidence that the vaccines are a godsend. I have also taken the various recommended traditional vaccines all my life, from measles and polio as a child to the annual flu shot.
There is almost nothing, no piece of information, about which one can be 100% sure: Is there global warming? I BELIEVE that there is, but only because I have been told so by innumerable experts. I stopped smoking over 40 years ago because I was told that it’s bad for you, and I BELIEVE that.
With regard to the Covid vaccines: Right now, the arguments in favor of getting vaccinated are overwhelmingly more convincing than the opposite.
As to Edric:
I first thought, what the f...? Just this morning he posted such a fine and reasonable comment...But this is good. It’s sarcasm. I like it!
To June (or anyone else who is interested in posting this post on social media: There is a social media link at the bottom of each post. Just click on one and presto, you will have posted the post on your social media page.
Although I am not one who will choose vaccination, I am eternally thankful that there is vaccination for those who desire it. It helps. I believe I have better ways of dealing with the cover threat.
As for the word of experts, Dr. Faucci and all the directors of the CDC, they are all patent holders that are making more than $150,000 per year in patent royalties. The unspoken conflict of interest makes him less of an expert in my thinking.
Sure, good point. Conflicts of interest are always relevant.
But let me make another point, unrelated:
As with regard to everything else, the positions on this issue are to some extent determined by whose ox is being gored:
Take taxes for instance: Raising taxes to fund important public needs like infrastructure? Sure, I’m all for it, as long as you just tax the rich (i.e. anyone richer than me).
Same with the Covid vaccine:
I am 80, my wife Anita and I have multiple pre-existing conditions (diabetes, ulcerative colitis, recovering cancer patient, compromised immune system, and a few other conditions). We are in a very high risk category if we catch the Covid bug. Our case fatality rate is probably 10 to 25 times higher than that of healthy 20 to 40-year olds.
Self-interest has a lot to do with one’s position on socio-political and economic issues.
I can anticipate your reply: Sure, be my guest, get vaccinated by all means, but don’t infringe on those of us who choose not to get vaccinated.
The problem with this is the same as with other public health issues. Just as with smoking, where second-hand smoke also harms non-smokers, the refusal of half the population to get vaccinated delays herd immunity and endangers all of us.
Hi Tom,
If you would like the Covid protocols I use and recommend to my patients, send me an email at drjohnmayfield@att.net and I will send it to you.
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