I've thought long and hard about this post. I've considered that I may get blasted from readers, but that's OK. I need to say this.
Before I start, I've been thinking about this before President Biden made his speech yesterday. And, I was not in a position to watch or listen to the speech. I've only seen excerpts of it. So, here are some of my thoughts on the vaccine and mandating it.
As the title says, most every parent I know, myself included, has said at one time or another that they would do anything to protect their child. Really? Then why not get the COVID vaccine? THAT protects your child...from you should you contract the virus.
I've heard all the arguments, and if people would actually do the research of the science of the vaccine, they would see that the vaccine form has been in development for at least 10 years. They (the scientists) just had to find the right combination to kickstart the immune system into fighting off the virus.
They say they don't want to be mandated into doing anything. Well, think about it. It's been mandated since my children were in school (and both are in their 40s now) that without the MMR and Polio vaccines, they can't attend public school. Did you think about that? I know there are some parents that are against vaccines altogether and most of their reasons are faulty. So, for those out there that started getting the shots during well baby check-ups, those were vaccines. And for the most part, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, whooping cough, smallpox and so many other diseases had been eradicated due to these vaccines. Until, the anti-vaxxers decided not to vaccinate their children. Those diseases have made a comeback, but, if you vaccinate against them, they will go away again.
Another argument is that people get a flu shot every year and it has not gotten rid of the flu. Each year there are several different strains of flu, and the vaccine cannot cover all of them. It's the same with COVID. We are actually on the 5th strain, although not much has been said yet about the Lambda strain. The Delta strain has proven the most contagious. And it is attacking our children.
Yes, there are breakthrough infections. My parents (in their 80s and 90s) were both fully vaccinated and both contracted the virus. But, they were not hospitalized. And even though they were quite ill, and suffer from some of the long-term side effects, they have basically recovered. My sister is just now recovering from the virus and she still has some side effects. My son-in-law was just diagnosed yesterday. He and my sister were also both fully vaccinated. My sister received the antibody infusion and my son-in-law is being scheduled to received it. So no, the vaccine is not a magic bullet, but it helps. As do masks, and social distancing. I've already written a post about masks and you can find it after this one. People have been saying that there were no flu cases last year. That may be basically true. But why do you suppose that is? PEOPLE WERE WEARING MASKS AND WASHING THEIR HANDS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING!!! See how that works?
People were saying that the military was refusing the vaccine. The only active duty member that I know of got the vaccine...after recovering from the virus, and she's only in her 20s. The military have had mandatory vaccinations at least as far back as 1972 when my first husband enlisted. And depending on where in the world you were going to be stationed, there may have been some area specific vaccinations. They generally don't get to say no to vaccines.
So, the mandates would not have been necessary yesterday if people started thinking more about the greater good than themselves and being inconvenience. It doesn't take away any rights or turn us into a fascist state. And maybe if it hadn't been politicized in the beginning, everyone would have been vaccinated as soon as they could be and we would all be back to as normal a life as possible.
So, do your part. Protect your children, protect your elderly family members and protect your neighbors. And in the process, you may just protect yourself.
By the way, read about the 1918 flu epidemic and the "mandates" then. And if it helps, change the word vaccinate to inoculate. We were all inoculated in school. Remember the polio vaccine on the sugar cube? And lining up to get shot in the arm? I still have my scar...and proud of it!
As I said, this will probably make some people mad, but I couldn't keep silent any longer.
