During my coaching career I had the good fortune to be on the staff of several teams that were very strong. We often went into games where the other team simply was not capable of beating us. That did not mean that victory was assured because every team is capable of beating itself. Today America finds itself in a similar situation. With the “recruiting” of the scientific community (the development of effective vaccines) and the “coaching” of the current staff (the Biden administration actually having a plan and executing it) if we take prudent and swift action the virus is a decided underdog. If we fail to, we will beat ourselves.
The quickest way to seize defeat from the jaws of victory is to fail to vaccinate enough people to prevent us from reaching community immunity. The biggest roadblock appears to be people who refuse the vaccine for other than extremely rare medical conditions that make the vaccine dangerous for them. Challenging to reach people and those confused by their legitimate questions and concerns are increasingly having their needs met now that the low hanging fruit has been vaccinated. To date we have well over 100 million Americans fully vaccinated. That is both terrific and amazing considering the number was close to zero at noon on January 20th.
The problem seems to be largely white, Republican, Trump supporting males. Not all of them, but a large enough number of them to be an issue. The bottom line is that they present a clear and present danger to both America and the world. Their “world view” may not extend beyond the lower 48 (they never really accepted Alaska or Hawaii as states) and they certainly don’t consider the rest of the world their peers. A pandemic is by definition a global problem and since America is arguably the most scientifically advanced nation in the world as well as one of its most populous vaccinating it is a global priority. If we can’t vaccinate America at about 320 million people and relative wealth, how are we to vaccinate India and China both of which have over a billion people and are neither as scientifically advanced or wealthy?
The vaccines have proven to be extremely effective and safe. There is simply no reason to fear them. I have to wonder if some of the supposed tough guys are simply afraid of the needle. Could it be that they are simply cowards?
Making a moral appeal to a largely amoral population may be a waste but I have to do it. If you don’t care about your own life and welfare then get vaccinated out of a sense of moral obligation to others. If you promise to live in total isolation for the rest of your life, I will accept your thoughtless and callous behavior. Please don’t share the same spaces like bars, restaurants, churches and stores that responsible American adults are in. You don’t deserve to.
Many on the right have purloined the term conservative in an attempt at legitimacy. A major principle in conservatism is personal responsibility. Willfully remaining unvaccinated is anything but being responsible for your personal behavior. Please stop calling yourself a conservative because you certainly are not.
The numbers are looking much better but the game is not over yet. Over the last five weekdays we averaged just over 54,000 new cases. (Saturday and certainly Sunday numbers are suspect in my opinion.) That is a far cry from a reason to sound the all clear but consider that not that long ago we were well into six figures for a similar sample it is clear progress. There are several factors at play but none larger than the vaccination program.
If you are eligible and are not making an effort to get vaccinated you are simply a menace to society! Let’s not beat ourselves.
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