Scamdemic, Clot Shot, and other general paranoia about COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccination has been floating around MAGA social media feeds lately. Left-leaning social media feeds are chiding the MAGA feeds for not believing in science. Though, their seemingly religious-like devotion to science has no room to ask honest questions, like whether or not natural immunity gained from surviving COVID-19 is at the same level as someone who is vaccinated, to seek the best treatment for that individual–“just get the treatment and don’t ask questions.”
Neither is a winnable strategy. The delta variant of COVID-19 is running rampant in the United States. The hotspots are, unsurprisingly, where the majority of the population is unvaccinated.
Delta spread is clear in these COVID hot spot maps per NYT. First one is July 17. The other is today, 5 weeks later. (no color = no data) pic.twitter.com/a6zz9kYear
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) August 22, 2021
The Dalton Mayor David Pennington declared a state of emergency due the rapid spread of COVID this past Monday. Some local governments are weighing mask mandates again. Those mandates will catch businesses in the middle having to deal with hostile customers who consider a piece of cloth on their face a threat to their dignity and freedom. Large events, like concerts and conventions, are being, or will likely be, postponed due to spiking infection rates. These issues could have been mitigated by more people getting one of the vaccines.
Vaccines, any vaccine, isn’t without risk. The chance of an adverse reaction is never zero. The protection that a vaccine provides isn’t 100%. Those are usually the arguments that COVID skeptics use pointing to how it’s “my body, my choice” or that their faith in Jesus will deliver them. Sure, okay. That’s why it’s important to talk with your healthcare provider–and ask for a second opinion if you don’t like what your primary healthcare provider tells you. Ask the questions if you have concerns about how the vaccine could affect you.
The reality is that your chances are survival and avoiding the serious effects of COVID are much better with the vaccine than without. I got the vaccine because I believe the risk from the vaccine is much lower than the risk from catching COVID. I encourage you to get the vaccine, the overwhelming majority of the medical community encourages you to get vaccinated, President Joe Biden encourages you to get vaccinated, and former President Donald Trump encourages you to get vaccinated. Like I said, vaccines aren’t 100%, but they help protect you against disease. The COVID-19 virus will adapt and change to breakthrough the immunity we gain–it’s how infections work.
Our public health really does affect us all–it’s why many communities have water sanitation facilities to provide the general public squeaky clean water and not succumb to water-borne illnesses. Our overall public health will affect our pocketbooks. Private insurers are now beginning to no longer waive the cost of covering hospitalizations due to COVID-19. You can expect the cost of being unvaccinated to go up–maybe substantially once waivers begin expiring in October.
In short, your health is your responsibility, but it does have a greater impact beyond just you. If you’re in relative good health, I’d encourage you to get the vaccine. Talk to your healthcare provider, look over the data, trust that the people who research and develop these vaccine actually know what they’re doing, and be weary of those spreading misinformation or disinformation.