Chronic Rants

In the days of COVID-19 (from now on I’ll just write this as “Covid”), this feels super-relevant, but let’s be honest, this was relevant before, too, as we’d been seeing recent measles outbreaks here in the U.S. The anti-vaccine movement has hurt a lot of people. Still, I’ve recently heard people ask, “if you’re vaccinated, why do you care what anyone else does?” This question never seems to come from people who can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons, but from those who choose not to. There are so many reasons! I wanted to mention just a few that came to mind.

Just to be clear, I’m not going to debate the value or safety of vaccines. I’m pro-vaccine. If you have a problem with that, you’re welcome to skip this post. Or even better, to read it with an open mind and reconsider your stance.

I jotted down these notes a few months ago, but didn’t feel up to writing it all out until now. I wrote the notes before Omicron. Today, in December 2021, Omicron seems to be a huge threat, but we aren’t quite certain yet just how bad it will or won’t be. Anyway, without further ado, a few reasons why I care if others are vaccinated for Covid, and you should, too:

• Young children are not eligible for the vaccine and are at risk of both getting and spreading Covid. Other people getting vaccinated will protect these kids.
• There are people with medical issues that prevent them from being vaccinated. They need protection, too.
• Ditto for folks who get vaccinated, but for whom it doesn’t work properly.
• Emergency healthcare workers need a break. For some reason, a lot of people don’t “trust” medical science to prevent Covid, but still seek hospital treatment after they get Covid. These healthcare workers have been working a lot of hours this past year-and-a-half. Let’s have some compassion for them.
• When ERs are overrun with unvaccinated people with Covid, a lot of other people aren’t getting the care they need from the usual issues (heart attacks, car accidents, assaults, etc.) Others’ getting vaccinated will free up beds for others.
• I want this pandemic to end. Vaccines are currently the best way we have of ending this pandemic. I want to hug my family and my friends. I want to buy groceries without fear. I want to get medical treatments. I want to go on a date and be able to kiss the person without asking a million questions about their potential Covid risk. But we need a certain percentage of folks to be vaccinated for this to happen.
• Even vaccinated folks can get long Covid, and that terrifies me. Long Covid can potentially lead to chronic illnesses and I really don’t want more of those.
• Vaccinated folks can get very ill and even die from Covid. Yes, it’s less likely, but it can still happen. Combined with the potential for Long Covid, I don’t think anyone can say that vaccinated folks aren’t at risk.
• We still don’t know the full long-term impacts of this disease. There’s been talk about impacts on the brain’s gray matter, among other things. I don’t particular want to risk that, do you?
• I recently had a medical test cancelled because the office is short-staffed due to certain staff members choosing to quit rather than get vaccinated. As I told the person who called me, I’d rather have the appointment cancelled than be in that small room for half an hour with someone who isn’t vaccinated. But of course, let’s be honest, I’d rather more people get vaccinated so I could keep all of my medical appointments.
• If more people get vaccinated, we should see fewer new variants. Yes, I wrote this note before Omicron. We all knew it was only a matter of time before we saw more variants. The only question was how dangerous they would be. And make no mistake, if people don’t get vaccinated and take precautions (wearing masks, distancing from others) then we will continue to see more.
• You’re basically giving the middle finger to the thousands (millions?) of people who want to get vaccinated but don’t have access to it. You have the choice. They don’t. Do the right thing. Help others. Because for so many of the reasons above, and many more not mentioned, you getting vaccinated will benefit them and others.

Look, I’m no doctor. I’m not a scientist. I’m not a specialist of any sort. But I have common sense, I read, and I reason. And I can see very clearly that when someone says “if you’re vaccinated then why do you care if anyone else is vaccinated?” they are saying two things.

(1) They don’t care about others. They are saying that they believe I am as selfish as they are. Which I’m not. Even if the vaccine protected me 100%, I would want to know that those who don’t have the option to get vaccinated (young kids, people with certain medical conditions) would still be safe.

(2) They don’t understand science.

So there’s the little rant that I want to give every time I hear anyone ask this question. I’m guessing at least some of you reading this aren’t able to get vaccinated or have loved ones who aren’t able to, and are relying on others to do so. Let’s hope that somehow, some way, the tide turns and those who have the option to get vaccinated but have resisted will finally do it.