Hello there, I appreciate the thought that went into this piece and the care not to use derogatory words (an un-witty trend across the globe right now) when discussing people who choose not to be vaccinated. However, what rankles me is this: the continual implication that people who choose to remain un-vaccinated are doing so because they lack virtue or sufficient understanding of what the vaccination is and what it does. Firstly, un-vaccinated people are not a monolith. Secondly, this unfortunate divide that has been engineered by the likes of the CDC, WHO, governments, etc, literature and communication ref Covid - has become a 'Shakespearian' tragedy. Vaccinated people are not the heroes of this piece (just read pandemic) and un-vaccinated people are not the villains. Yet here we are with that very implication alive and truly kicking.
Do vaccinated people wish to keep ignoring the fact that the vaccine does not prevent transmission? Just look at Israel now and the surge of cases, they are about as close as we can get to a live and accurate case study of the effects of the vaccine as one of the first countries to get high percentages (over 80% I believe) of its population vaccinated. The latest studies from there state that natural antibodies produced following infection - last longer and are more effective at preventing severe disease or death. But it remains clear that the vaccine does not prevent transmission which is ironic being that this is the main driving force behind the finger pointing at un-vaccinated people for why this pandemic rages on and a rather convenient scapegoat for if any vaccinated people get sick.
The mandating of vaccines is ridiculous imho ref everything I just stated. If the concern is how to mitigate transmission then surely social distancing methods are the most feasible (not fool-proof) ways forward. Personally, I am treating this like the flu. This is not complacency to my mind because I know the flu still does kill thousands every year (so has become endemic, since the biggest flu pandemic of 1918, which is what I'm basing my reasoning for how to navigate this covid pandemic on - it's the closest thing to compare covid to for how it will likely continue to behave. Rather than Polio, which people seem to keep reaching for as the gold standard argument for mandating this vaccine. But I digress.) , but we are not trying to mandate that vaccine because we accept that it does not provide immunity. Why are people still refusing to accept this fact about the Covid vaccine? Seriously, I'm gonna need it to make sense.
Nobody knows exactly how a virus will affect a person until it gets into their body, likewise with vaccines. Averages - are not scientific, they are averages. Your choice about this vaccination is your business and does nothing to protect me or others. My choice about this vaccination is my business and does nothing to protect you or others. We are all capable of 'taking each other down' with Covid as we are with the Flu, that may not be the headline that people wanted - but it is a true story nonetheless.
Stay well.
