So, sit down and listen. Here’s why you need to cut the crap, right now. Get tested for COVID, and then, get vaccinated. Every argument against it is wrong. Period.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
By David Stone
Cut the Crap: Vaccinations
In a New York Times opinion piece, Jamelle Bouie got it right.
“In the context of a deadly and often debilitating contagion, in which the unchecked spread of infection has consequences for the entire society, vaccination is not a personal decision,” he wrote.
This followed quotes from athletes and politicians refusing to disclose their vaccination status because it was “personal.”
Riding a bike without a helmet, driving a car without a seatbelt, rock climbing at 5,000 feet… Yeah, those are personal. But choosing to expose me and my children to a virus while welcoming the next, more perilous variation is not.
What the unvaccinated fail to understand, along with the above, is that vaccines are, also, a buffer against the future.
You don’t need expertise about viruses, but what you need to know is that viruses are extremely small, incomplete pieces of life that evolve fast. Evolution seeks methods for overcoming obstacles, like a slow spread. And that’s exactly what the Delta variant, a product of the coronavirus’s remarkable evolution, did.
It figured out a way of spreading faster, infecting more people, and it may be even deadlier.
Now that you know that, think about a slew of variations ahead. Evolution’s already cooking multiple new types around the world where, in many places, vaccinations are few. These are viral brewing stations, and they are a threat to us.
The solution:
Get vaccinated. Get everyone vaccinated. Not only will it increase public health immediately, it improves our chances tomorrow.
So, discard the excuses. Do that today.
And cut the crap because none of the vaccines carry risks anywhere near approaching the virus itself. Millions have taken one of them, and not one person died from vaccination. But in the U.S alone, over 600,000 have died unvaccinated, many before the vaccines were available.
An awful lot of them, in fact, would happily get the shot today, if it weren’t too late.
And speaking of that — honestly, how many unvaccinated are really just afraid of needles and won’t admit it?
I am, have been all my life, but reason wins the argument here. My dread of needles means I’ll probably never become a junky, but there is no other benefit.
So, get the damn shot. Be a good neighbor, and be done with it. We’re all counting on you.
Let me help: In seconds, you can find the closest vaccines by clicking here. Couldn’t be easier.
Thanks, in advance.
Cut the Crap: Testing
That said, testing for infections remains important. You’ve reduced your chances of getting infected and lowered your risk of serious illness or death to near zero. You run greater risks by jaywalking or getting tattooed.
I’m not willing to give up either of those, but there’s something else.
I can get infected, and even without symptoms, I can spread the virus. And I run into children all the time.
Children, that is, who are too young for vaccinations and who can die or have lifelong after effects from COVID.
So, if I’ve been in close quarters indoors with people who might be unvaccinated, I need a test. Under similar circumstances, so do you.
A church or a town hall or a bar are ideal places for viral spread.
More importantly, if you have symptoms — most the same as a cold or flu — get tested. It’s a minor inconvenience, free with insurance most places, but well worth it for protecting a child or a vulnerable relative.
You may even go beyond your best intentions, protecting selfish friends and family who won’t get vaccinated or tested.
Where? Just type “Where can I get tested for COVID?” in Google search and a list instantly appears, closest first.
Finally, face masks…
The final place to cut the crap is over face masks. We now know that wearing face masks retards the spread of coronavirus. Remarkably, last season, it even cut back on the common flu.
Like wearing a seat belt, face masks are not a 100% perfect solution, but they’re the best we’ve got, so far. And it’s more about not being a spreader. Face masks reduce the chances of your infecting others.
No need for going overboard. Wearing a face mask outdoors is probably unnecessary. Infections outdoors are negligible, if they exist at all, but that may not be true for variants.
Wearing a mask indoors, though, where you’re within a few feet of others makes sense.
And it saves lives.
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Standing ovation and Bra-VO on this one. Thank you David. Not much I can add (but I will because I can’t help myself, as you found out in my Esther Hicks response.)
No one needs much more info to make this decision than a very basic biology lesson, which you offered.
So ignore mainstream media. Ignore famous doctors. Ignore headlines. Talk to YOUR doctor if you need, but here’s a bit more biology. Viruses cannot be killed like bacteria, Instead, they need us to have a huge immune response against them, hence vaccines. The virus will jump from person to person trying latch on and get our bodies to replicate it. The more vacc’d people there are, the weaker the virus gets as it keeps jumping from person to person looking for a host, but getting attacked by our immune system. This is what reaching herd immunity means- when 75-80% of the population have high resistance to the virus, it just peters out because it cannot find a place to replicate. Like smallpox. Like polio. Like Diptheria. When many people are UNvacced, their bodies act as incubators and replication factories. The virus throws a party and not only multiplies, but mutates and becomes more efficient in order to maximize the fact that it has fewer people to infect. And wow…if an enormous proportion of hosts are 12 yrs old and under, think of the way the virus can SPECIALIZE and be just a PERFECT INFECTION for children.
Random points to add:
1. COMMUNITY, let’s think of ALL of us. On the globe. Any Star Trek fans? “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.”
2. Freedom: Well, while I always respect free will choice, even if I don’t respect the specific choice a person makes, when your freedom to be unvacc’d/unmasked interferes with my freedom to not be infected, then “whose freedom” is the one that prevails? We are ALL free to live healthily.
3. The virus does not give a crap who belongs to what political party.
4. I heard this yesterday, “Why should I get vacc’d when there are breakthrough infections.” Well…a vaccine, at this stage, does not prevent infection. It offsets serious illness and death. And the vaccines that many of us received months ago are losing their efficacy BECAUSE so many are unvacc’d and variants now exist. The vaccines were created based on the initial variants. Now there are new ones that are specialized for reasons listed above and in the post. So DON’T use the current conclusion as the ARGUMENT to not be vacc’d, when the argument is CREATING the conclusion! WE ARE IN PROCESS. WE NEED TO REACH HERD IMMUNITY and then much of these ideas will cease to exist! We’re all learning together. Including scientists.
5. Masks: I LITERALLY saw a sign that read “Masks on children are child abuse.” I guess NOT masking your child to prevent disease, isn’t.
6. Masks: I heard this one too: “Masks don’t work”. Ok, so the next time you or a loved one needs surgery, let’s tell the surgeon and the OR staff to not wear masks. They don’t work and it doesn’t matter anyway.
7. Masks: (last one) Masks are dangerous for your health. Uhhhh….what about surgeons? Construction workers? Biohazard techs? No one faints or dies or gets sick from masks in those industries.
PUT A DAMN MASK ON TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHER PEOPLE. And get masks on kids when they go to school! Please!! Kids don’t care. Parents do.
I am vacc’d. Obviously. And I do it for myself and for others. I don’t want to be responsible for infecting anyone else. Even as vacc’d person, due to the insanity going on around us, I have NEVER stopped wearing a mask in public, unless I’m with 3 or 4 other VACC’D people. When we reach herd immunity, I will shift my habits. My fear is that given the tumultuous and angry climate around us, we will reach herd immunity ‘naturally’ and many will die as we get there. It can be prevented. Think about all the people overwhelming the hospital systems, the burnout of healthcare workers, the fact that patients with other pathologies like heart attacks or accidents, may not get a hospital bed…and think of the medical BANKRUPTCY that so many are facing. COVID treatment isn’t free.
Just a little biology, and a sense of community and compassion. Wouldn’t you want someone to protect YOU?
Thank you for your post David.
PS There are some people who CAN’T be vacc’d. And I’m happy to BE vacc’d to protect them.
All points well made. Thanks. Keep pushing.
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