My comment queue now includes a number of blistering denunciations of the Cook County judge who curtailed a mother's visitation rights with her young son, apparently sua sponte, because she was not vaccinated against COVID-19. You won't be seeing those. And I'll refrain from even naming the judge here. For once this is not because I don't know who the judge is; I do. I tweeted about it over the weekend when the order rescinding the first order was entered.
I'm not protecting anybody, or defending anyone either. You already know that story; I'll not pile on.
Instead, I'd like to come at it from another direction.
I saw a post put up by on Facebook one of my cousins this morning. One of my unvaccinated cousins.
Don't be smug. While I am certain that most FWIW readers are fully vaccinated, I am equally certain that there are probably unvaccinated persons among your relations, too, or among your in-laws, and almost certainly among some of your neighbors, whether you know it or not.
Indeed, one of the many sad consequences of this pandemic (albeit not up there with the suspension of civil jury trials in Cook County -- there, I've saved you the trouble of making that comment, Anonymous) is that the vaccination issue is yet another wedge dividing friends and families. As if we didn't have enough of those already.
Anyway, my cousin shared a post from the Fire Chief of the rural Oregon Aurora Fire District. The post in question is on the linked Facebook page; Mr. Zuckerberg either does not permit, or my limited techno-skills do not allow, me to link to the exact post. I've also linked to the district's web page. In short, I'm pretty sure that this is a real letter, from a real fire chief:
This is some pretty overheated, over-the-top rhetoric here ("un-American", "weaponized" government). Not as offensively over-the-top as the remarks recently attributed to FOP President John Catanzara, Jr. about Chicago's forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine mandate but, in a way, that makes Chief Williams' remarks all the more frightening. He seems perfectly willing to jettison his career on this issue.
And it's not just one firefighter in Who-knows-where Oregon that feels this way. From what I've been told, and from what I've read, there are a lot of firefighters in this area that haven't been vaccinated either. And policemen. Even nurses. A significant number of first responders who've been dealing with COVID and its consequences right from the start. You'd think that would be impossible. But, apparently, it's not.
My cousin has a son who is serving in the Marine Corps. If he hasn't been vaccinated yet for COVID, he will be shortly. I don't think he'll throw away his career on this. Persons serving in the armed forces are routinely required to submit to vaccinations of one sort or another before overseas deployments. A great many persons in the police and fire service are military veterans themselves, and therefore familiar with these requirements. You'd think they'd see this vaccination in a similar light. But... evidently not.
On Facebook and Twitter I read post after post from people -- supposedly rational, responsible people -- exulting over the deaths of their unvaccinated fellow humans (a right-wing Florida radio host -- of course he'd be from Florida -- who'd fulminated against vaccination, until his own, ultimately fatal encounter with COVID, being one of the latest examples). There's meanness and ugliness from so many out there.
What this shows me, at least, is the limitations of the law.
Passing a law -- or issuing a mandate -- prohibiting some practice or requiring another is absolutely ineffectual without one of two things: Either there must be broad consensus supporting the law or there must be the threat of force behind it. Force and even violence. Actually, you probably need both for a truly effective law because no matter what overwhelming percentage of persons support the enactment, there will always be someone who will violate it, or try to. But the important thing is this: The more people who agree with the law in the first place, the less onerous enforcement will have to be.
I don't know how a public health issue got made into a partisan political issue. But it happened here. And we're seeing the consequences. Most people in most places have agreed that the vaccine is a reasonable response to the COVID-19 problem. But not enough people anywhere to effectively contain the bug. So... now... enforcement is being ratcheted up: Government employees, at all levels, are being required to take the vaccine. Private employers are being urged to force their employees to do the same. Failure to comply will result in losing one's job. A pretty forceful consequence. And it still may not be enough.
But the law is not going to be enough here. Not without a whole lot of force. Or... alternatively... hopefully... by forging some consensus. Of course, for that, we'll just have to start talking to each other again. Do we still know how?
I think if the government had been really honest with people from the start about the vaccine and its limitations, telling them that it's only one tool in the anti-covid toolbox, and that masks and social-distancing, etc. would still be required to combat the virus, things might not have turned so sour between those with opposing views. Explaining that covid could still be spread and contracted whether or not one is vaccinated should have been explained before that sad (and inevitable) news started dripping out from England and Israel (our canaries in the coal mine)--and that might have made a difference, too. Demonizing those who don't take the vaccine is not logical or scientific, since BOTH vaxxed and unvaxxed people are equally able to spread and contract the virus, as it turns out. I think many people are shocked that boosters are just weeks away because of dwindling vaccine efficacy, and now they wonder if boosters are going to be required forever. Which may be more than most people can fathom at this point. I think many people are just resigned to learning to live with covid out there, trying to play it safe in various ways and not necessarily wanting to make a political statement--unless pushed to.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing those resistant to Covid vaccination did not attend schools where other vaccinations were mandated.
ReplyDeleteBonnie, your comment ignores the fact that this is a NOVEL virus and there was no way of knowing how long the vaccine would last or whether the vaccine would stave off variants of the original virus. Yes, people that are vaccinated can still get and pass the virus, but this was not known at the time. Regardless, vaccinated people will suffer far less severe symptoms thank the unvaccinated. I really do not understand the mindset of those hesitant to get the vaccine that do not have any medical reasons for not getting it. It can only help. The biggest irony of all is that those unwilling to get vaccinated are those pushing the hardest to reopen everything as it was pre-COVID. Illogical and stubborn. To me it just seems like these folks simply do not like to be told what to do.
ReplyDeleteAs it's name implies, it is not NOVEL, otherwise it would be covid-1. It is one reason a vaccine was developed so quickly.
DeleteA vaccinated populace leads to better commerce, happy citizens, and healthy living. Some people try to explain the lack of logic that exists in some of our fellow citizens. Instead of wasting efforts on them, let's focus upon the war on disease and future methods of combating it.
ReplyDeleteI believe our citizens were better informed 15+ years ago; maybe they weren't formally as educated as we are today. I'm speaking of my immigrant grandparents who made it a priority to avail themselves of current affairs. Compare that to today where 33%-40% are too lazy to even process simple life strategies.
Those who refuse to go along with vaccination efforts will eventually fail at life, itself.
yes, anonymous, I can't say i disagree with what you say, but it makes me think of something that we should all consider: if in fact this has become a "pandemic of the unvaccinated," as our leader never misses a chance to call it, it may be because many, but certainly not all of the people who have no use for the shot may not have any interest in other effective preventatives--such as mask-wearing, social distancing, general good health habits, etc., etc. In fact, many (certainly not all) who don't take the shot may think of covid as nothing too serious, or God forbid, even a hoax. All of this could be combatted by well thought out and effective health education programs. As many good doctors already do in the privacy of their offices. I think excoriating people who resist the government intrusion in their personal lives for whatever reason, may be persuaded with honesty and information and no judgment. Elitism and cash payoffs, which has been tried in some jurisdictions, may not be the answer. But health educators may be....
ReplyDeleteWant to update one of the points I made above that I now think was erroneous: my supposition that the reason many see a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" was because the unvaccinated as a rule scoff at other preventatives such as masks, hand-washing and social distancing. I am realizing now that many people who are vaccinated also forego such preventatives--because (rightly or wrongly) they no longer feel in jeopardy. But I now think it's because people who are vaccinated can carry a vaccine card and are generally exempt from testing; not so the unvaccinated, who must be tested these days in order to carry on a semblance of normal life. That means the unvaccinated are getting their asymptomatic and mild covid cases diagnosed with far more frequency than the vaccinated, who only visit a doctor or an emergency room for a diagnosis when they have pronounced symptoms.
ReplyDelete