ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
Once upon a time, but not long ago, smoking cigarettes, use of tobacco, was regarded by the medical community as the single most preventable cause of death. Big Tobacco’s lofty No. 1 standing in that category has been eclipsed, however.
As retired MLive reporter Julie Mack asserted earlier this week in a guest editorial, it’s nothing short of baffling, the huge numbers of people who refuse to be vaccinated against a virus that has killed more than 600,000 people in the United States and millions worldwide.
It’s even more batpoop crazy when we are told by medical experts that the latest “Delta” variant of Covid-19, which originated in India, is causing a huge uptick in cases and deaths right on our doorstep, and more than 99% of the deaths are of people who aren’t vaccinated.
If you do the math, even at the most basic levels, it’s obvious that anyone who wants to survive the pandemic must roll up his or her sleeve.
I was one of the stupid deniers of the dangers of smoking cigarettes for many years until finally succumbing to health logic in 1991. Aside from gaining a lot of weight, I’m not at all sorry, and I have yet to meet anyone who regrets quitting smoking.
Yes, we were stupid. But many of gave up the evil cancer sticks before they did us in. For some, it was too late.
Another part of my astonishment is that I routinely was administered three polio shots during my elementary schooling in the 1950s. The kids all lined up in the basement next to the cafeteria to get stuck. None of us wanted the poke, but our parents insisted.
I don’t recall any pushback for vaccines in those days, though I acknowledge it probably existed. What I do recall is not long afterward polio and several other dread diseases, such as smallpox, diphtheria and measles became a thing of the past, at least until recent years, making a comeback during the Anti-Vax craze.
This is not rocket science, yet too many Americans, some of them friends, are still in denial about the efficacy of the shots. This, despite a very clear decline in the Covid threat in recent months, to the point we’re eating out in restaurants, going shopping without masks and hugging loved ones. We went from a public health crisis in mid-April to near normalcy in early July.
Just a coincidence? I believe it not.
We Americans have a right to be proud that effective vaccines were developed in our midst. As one friend insisted, it was like the Manhattan Project 75 years later, good old Yankee Ingenuity. It’s like we sent for the cavalry, and they came quickly to the rescue.
Yet more than 40% of Americans still refuse to get a vaccine that very well could save their lives. Even worse, they could spread it to children who cannot get vaccinated, creating the possibility of our own bizarre self-destruction.
“We have met the enemy and he is us.” — Walt Kelly, Pogo
Mr Young
Under the premise of “freedom,” we have developed a society based on “Me/I”. Few if any really concern themselves with how their actions may affect others.
Those who followed the guidelines, be it masking up, social distancing and ultimately getting the shot, have been described as “sheeple”, but amazingly most who got the shots have not died even if they contracted the virus later.
There are two varieties of “sheeple” the intelligent sheeple or the ignorant sheeple.
This new variant, the “Delta,” will most likely thin that 40% (currently the ignorant sheeple) and just maybe some the remaining percentage will get the shot.
It is my opinion few of that 40% will get the shot. The virus will continue to thin the remainder, by then the 60% will have developed an immunity. Things will return to a somewhat normal, ’til some country accidentally has a mysterious leak and a new biological weapon again plagues the world.
In the US as a whole, 95% of deaths are from those 50 years and older. Approximately 75% of that age group has been vaccinated. In Michigan about 78% of that age group are vaccinated…so far. I guess that doesn’t sound AS bad. The rest have about as good a chance of getting stuck by lightning as they do of catching COVID and dying from it. This also doesn’t include the number of those who have gotten the virus, have antibodies naturally, and are choosing not to vaccinate based on that reason. Just thought some more numbers might help make sense of people’s decisions.
I don’t find it baffling at all that there is a fairly large segment of the population who are resisting the vaccine. Consider the following:
1. There have been over 33 million confirmed cases of Covid 19 in the US and roughly 600,000 deaths. Do the math – over 98% of those confirmed cases have survived and recovered. In addition, there are likely hundreds of thousands, if not millions more, who have had Covid but didn’t even know it which makes the survival rate even higher. Those statistics make your comment that in order to survive this pandemic you need to get vaccinated ridiculous.
2. The vaccine has only been approved on an emergency use basis. It has not been given full approval by the FDA. There many medical experts who are saying the vaccine is safe. There are many other medical experts who say it is not safe. The government and media is dong everything they can to silence those experts who are questioning the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
3. There have now been well over 400,000 adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccines and nearly 6,000 reported deaths. Those figures are significantly higher than any other previous vaccine. In addition, the mRNA technology has never been used before in humans. Nobody knows what the long term effects may be.
4. The vast majority of deaths from Covid-19 have been the elderly, people with underlying health issues or otherwise compromised immune systems. People in those categories should get the vaccine. However, for the vast majority of healthy people with robust immune systems, Covid is not life threatening.
Unfortunately, this entire tragedy has been politicized and had now become just another issue to divide an already divided nation. For those who want to get vaccinated – by all means do so. Do what you think is right for you and your health. The rest of us just want the same freedom to make our own choice, even if it is different than yours.
“There have now been well over 400,000 adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccines and nearly 6,000 reported deaths.”
This has been widely debunked. It’s post like yours that spread cancerous and deadly lies.
Interestingly enough, as of July 12, 6,079 deaths have been reported according to CDC.gov (link below). They do admit that they have no idea if the death was a result of receiving the vaccine only that death was closely followed after receiving the vaccine and in most cases they can’t find a “causal relationship”. I don’t know that I’d call this debunked but definitely something to pay attention to to see if a causal relationship is eventually identified.
Sounds like the 400,000 “adverse reactions” may be counting when someone gets a headache or soreness at the injection site. The CDC lists the numbers for actual adverse reactions (which are severe) and they are much, much lower. I’d agree the 400,000 number seems wildly inflated.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html
Editor,
So the information that the CDC website publishes is not credible?
Hmmmmmm………ok.
If you can’t trust the CDC where do you go for the correct information?
Cheers!!
I could not have said it better myself. One thing to keep in mind is an old saying I got from my Granddad, “liars figure and figures lie”. Of course, this can go both ways. In our current political/social situation I am having a real difficult time swallowing what the mainstream media is trying to feed me. Another thing that seems to intrigue once again is the timing of the rise of the terrible Delta variant and the upcoming mid term elections. Seems a little deja vu, in my opinion. Just something to think about.
My solution is an Aug. 30 cutoff. Plan accordingly. If you opt for the J&J vaccine that looks to be a bit better than 70% effective against COVID-19 but isn’t effective against the Delta variant, you take your chances, but you can stall a bit longer.
If you opt for the two-dose option that’s Pfizer that requires three weeks between shots or the Moderna that requires four weeks between shots you’d have less time to wait but both are more than 90% effective and appear to reduce symptoms of the Delta variant.
After that you pay for your vaccine out of pocket or use your insurance co-pay.
From a health standpoint, I would segregate classrooms of elementary students. Let those teachers who decided they don’t want to be vaccinated teach those children whose parents have the same aversion to the COVID vaccine.
After all, chances getting sick from COVID and possibly having long haul symptoms after initial recovery is like getting struck by lightning, according to one commenter. But don’t believe that whopper. According to national weather service, from 1989-2018 the U.S. averaged 43 lightning strike fatalities per year. As of March 2021 the CDC reports 238 deaths related to COVID for those 17 and under. So 238 deaths isn’t a big deal. Really only 5.5 times higher than all lightning related death. No big deal unless it’s your child’s death.
I would also like to see employers require vaccinations to keep health care coverage. Since no one is forced to be vaccinated, I’m almost certain those who opt out would have no problem waiving their health care coverage if they may be unlucky enough get infected with COVID-19 or a variant like Delta that’s sweeping across the country.
After all, what are the odds? Maybe not quite as good as betting you won’t get struck by lightning. But you might have time to recover from medical bankruptcy if you survive and can go back to work.
The mental gymnastics about COVID vaccinations seen here and other places is astounding. How many of the amateur scientists and wannabe virologists would be dragging themselves around wearing leg braces or worse if their parents and grandparents had taken the cavalier attitude towards Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine?
2030,
You probably feel Dr Anthony Fauci has been 100% truthful as well?
Motorcycle helmets: Mandatory or no health care coverage if you split your head open?
Cigarettes: No heath care if you are a smoker and develop lung cancer?
Cheers!!
Couchman:
I appreciate the reference to my comment. However, you misquoted my statement. I said that the chances of that younger age group catching the virus AND dying was about as good as getting struck by lightning. Since you debate that statement, which admittedly I did not research, I figured I should gather the statistics and see what things come out as.
The chance of someone catching COVID in Michigan is about 10%*. The chance of a person under 50 dying (in 2020) of COVID was 0.006%. Together, the chance of catching COVID AND dying from COVID for someone in that age group will then be 0.0006% chance. The chance of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime is 1/15,300 about 0.0066%. So you have about a 10x more likely chance of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime than you do of catching COVID AND dying from it if you’re under the age of 50 (the group as a whole). Unfortunately for you, these are facts, not feelings.
If you’re going to argue my statement the least you can do is read it thoroughly enough to quote it properly. And frankly, now that 60% of the population is vaccinated, the chances are even better that someone young wont catch it AND die.
Lastly, no where have I argued for or against the vaccine. Nor have I stated that I am OK with young people dying. Please don’t make a comment that assumes I am and I’ll provide you with the same respect.
*10% is the total number of cases including people above 50 years old. I had trouble finding information on cases for just 50 and younger so I decided I would use the worst case in the calculation and use the total number of cases which would be much higher. Due to this the actual chance of getting hit by lightning is even greater than 10x that of catching COVID AND dying from it for that age group.
Sources:
https://www.mdch.state.mi.us/osr/Provisional/CvdTable2.asp
https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173—,00.html
https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-odds