A Winters Express op-ed column
By Richard Kleeberg Special to the Express I am absolutely exasperated with the many people who still refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccination. There simply are no plausible arguments against it. (If you have a valid, recognized medical condition that does not allow you to take a vaccine, that’s understandable. But that exception applies to far less than one percent of our population.) Some people argue that the COVID vaccines are too new and experimental. That’s just false. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the culmination of 30 years of research and medical progress. Both are built and based on two powerful gene-editing scientific techniques – CRISPR and mRNA – that were invented in the 1990s. Some people claim that the COVID vaccines are untested. That’s just ridiculous. More than 2.5 billion humans have received their COVID shots. By the end of this year, nearly half the people on Earth will have been vaccinated. Some people argue that taking the vaccine infringes on their personal liberties. Really? Somehow these “personal liberty” folks don’t fret about their liberty when using the mandated seatbelt in their car. They don’t argue about the Constitution when required to take their shoes off to board a plane. They don’t worry about their freedom when paying for a city permit when building a new front porch. And they regularly stop at a STOP sign, without feeling that their liberty has been trampled. Some people claim that they just don’t believe in vaccines. But when you check with them, you find out that nearly all of them had no problem getting the smallpox, tetanus or polio vaccines. Some people claim that the vaccines are part of a devious secret plan by the government to track them wherever they go. Even though there is no possible way to make a tracking device that small to travel through the tip of a syringe, they still believe this nutty conspiracy theory. And while worrying about being tracked by a non-existent chip in the vaccine, these people still clutch their cell phones, which we all know allow the federal and state governments, the CIA and the FBI to track our every moment, all day, every day, everywhere we go. Some people suggest that the COVID vaccines are full of poisons, or toxic substances, or fetal tissue parts. Really? None of that is true — those are just vicious, unethical falsehoods spread by nitwit anti-vaxxers who rarely have any science or medical training. These anti-vaxxers worry about non-existent additives in vaccines, but seem to have no concern about the dozens of preservatives, sweeteners and fillers that are used in their fast food hamburgers and milkshakes. And where is their anger and concern about the 29 ingredients in an ordinary Duncan Hines cake mix, including propylene glycol, sodium aluminum phosphate, cellulose gum and sodium stearoyl lactylate? They just refuse to accept the fact that vaccines are far more regulated, inspected, checked and tested than any of the packaged and processed foods they eat all the time. And finally, some people argue that it will only be their problem if they contract COVID, that they won’t be hurting anyone else, and that they have no obligation to help anyone else. Talk about arrogance and poor reasoning. If you get COVID-19, you may give it to a child who is not old enough to get the vaccine. You may give it to someone already vaccinated. Yes, it is possible to get COVID after being vaccinated, and not even know that you are carrying the disease. That vaccinated person may then unknowingly transmit the virus to — and perhaps kill — someone they come into contact with. And you may end up giving it to a friend or neighbor who isn’t allowed to take the vaccine. During the past six weeks, medical school data shows that more than 99 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the USA are in people who have NOT had the vaccine. More than 99 percent. Please don’t be selfish, don’t remain uneducated, don’t be arrogant, and don’t allow yourself to be overwhelmed with paranoia. Get your damn shots. Now!
