Reading for Treasure: Dealing with the Unvaccinated

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles (and other readings) that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction.

My most recent blog post makes the metaphor that the unvaccinated are pissing in a pool in which all of us are swimming. It laments the current stalemate between those who want a COVID-19 free world and those who simply won’t get the vaccine. Here are some articles that further explore this topic. 

The Atlantic’s “Vaccine Refusers Don’t Get to Dictate Terms Anymore” This opinion piece makes a strong case that the unvaccinated should have to pay the price for their choice,  “Americans are entitled to make their own decisions, but their employers, health insurers, and fellow citizens are not required to accommodate them.” The time has come for vaccination mandates by schools, employers, agencies, and others or financial penalties as well as testing for the unvaccinated.  

John Banzhaf, a professor emeritus from George Washington University, goes one step further, “Vaccinated workers, students, airline passengers and others who go out in public should not have to bear the risks and huge financial costs that the unvaccinated are imposing on society.” In his opinion column for CNN,  “Make the unvaccinated pay out for their deadly decisions,” he argues that, “Vaccine refusers should pay more for life and health insurance,” as well as  “If the unvaccinated want to get hotel rooms or board cruise ships or fly on airplanes, they should have to pay more to cover the additional costs of thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing the places they may infect. They should also be charged more because of the added burdens associated with requiring all airlines, bus and train passengers to be masked.” Basically, if you don’t want to get vaccinated, you need to pay for the additional costs you are creating! Yes! 

Inverse provides a specific and highly scientific answer to the question, “How Immune Are You After Having COVID-19? Why You Still Need a Vaccine” The common sense answer is to get vaccinated no matter what. Doubt that. Read this! 

Here's an update to my blog post: CNN is reporting that, "New analysis estimates $5.7 billion price tag for treating unvaccinated Covid-19 patients in the last 3 months." That is a lot of money helping people, many of whom could have been vaccinated! 

Finally, a little hope from an older article from The Atlantic. In, “One Vaccine to Rule Them All,”  Dr. James Hamlin describes research to create a universal vaccine. May this research be successful! 

I am currently reading A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine 

Pissing in the Pool: The Broken Social Contract

Recently, a doctor in Alabama stated he would not treat unvaccinated people. It was simply too painful to watch them die. Many of these people, says another doctor, ask for the vaccine as they are being put on the ventilator. 

It is appropriate to feel sorry for people who have made poor decisions like this. Certainly, there are people who, due to medical conditions or circumstances beyond their control, cannot get the vaccine. But what about the willfully and proudly unvaccinated? What about those who could and should be vaccinated, but won’t? 

What happens when people who have been hateful, hurtful, and horrible need help and those of us who have taken proper precautions pay the price of their poor choices? What is our obligation to the unvaccinated, unmasked, Clorox and Ivermectin taking folks? What happens when some people, who place their own desires, feelings, and “rights,” above the wellbeing of the entire community, fill hospitals to capacity so that there isn't even room for children with cancer?  Should we rush to Texas’s and Florida’s aid even if they are outlawing the very actions that would make their situation better?  

The idea of a social contract is  “(a)n implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection.” While you may never need the fire department, you pay taxes to have one because it helps the community as a whole – and if someday you should need it, it will be there for you. We all get this idea – or do we? 

“But I don’t trust the government,” someone replies. “It is my right not to wear a mask,” cries another. “You can’t make me get the vaccine,” says the third. Yet, people who have these views are treated in our hospitals like any other. Their children are going to school and potentially spreading COVID. They are making it impossible for children or teachers who are immunocompromised to return to school at all. 

At this point, arguing with them doesn’t seem like it is working. While loving responses and listening and acknowledging their fears may be a way to reach them, that does not address the current preventable crisis. And can that be scaled up to address all of them? They have made their choice clear: their individual choice (which they see as rights) are more important than the social good. Me first, us last. 

Last year, the folks making these claims said that COVID deaths were an acceptable cost for reopening businesses and that we should “sacrifice the weak.” More recently, a woman at a Trump rally compared this situation to “separating the sheep from the goats” which is a reference to a parable from the Gospel of Matthew. Ironically, the sheep are saved and the goats are lost. The unvaccinated woman identified herself correctly as a goat. 

Yet, we are paying for and cleaning up their messes – and it is quite expensive! We are spending billions of dollars to treat unvaccinated people and their choices may mean higher insurance premiums for all of us. Should we endorse their logic and put these goats out to pasture?  

We are an interdependent society; our choices significantly affect far more people than ourselves. We are not living in isolation. Regardless of whether you accept the social contract, we are still all swimming in the same pool.  

Why withhold help from those who need it? Why persist in holding a grudge against unfortunate and misinformed people? What good comes out of hurting those already in pain? Is the suffering of COVID a reasonable consequence for being arrogant and super selfish? 

I don’t think hospitals will stop treating willfully unvaccinated people. It is unlikely that large numbers of doctors will refuse to treat them. But there is an exodus of healthcare professionals leaving the field, and that will affect everyone. 

Here’s the issue: Should the willfully unvaccinated get care despite their disregard for the chaos they create or do we back off and let them suffer the consequences of their choices, even though that, too, could be deadly. 

If you run a red light, you get a ticket. If you leave your child in a hot car, that’s child abuse. If you drive under the influence…There are consequences when people flagrantly break the social contract. Defying mask mandates is against the law and prohibiting them is certainly a breach of contract. What about vaccination? 

It’s a lose-lose scenario if there ever was one. Thanks, assholes. 

We Are The Children’s Vaccine: Get Vaccinated!

While almost all people over the age of sixteen are eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine for free, children will have to wait for safety studies to be completed. It is expected that the Pfizer vaccine may be approved for kids as young as twelve in the next month or two – or three or more. 

But what about the little ones? When will they be protected? The truth is we don’t know and it may not be soon. Some children have had significant complications from COVID and we are still figuring out how the variants might affect them.  How do we protect this vulnerable and precious population? 

The answer is that we bring down the infection rate by being vaccinated. We are their vaccine. 

Why should that matter to you? First, because you are a good person who wants to take care of those who are unable to protect themselves. Second, because it will help all of us get our world back to normal. Think of it this way: if kids are spreading COVID, which it appears is the case in the post-vaccination world, then keeping schools functioning is in danger. Should schools close, much of our economy closes, too. Your job and the people with whom you work might be significantly affected. Do you want to go back to the dark winter inside? 

Another reason to get vaccinated is to fight against variants of the virus. There are several mutant versions of COVID-19 and some of them appear to now be the dominant strain. These versions are far more contagious and can cause more harm – even to younger people. The more of us who are vaccinated, the less opportunity for this kind of mutation and the less chance one of these variants will attack the population that is least protected: children! 

Are you worried about side effects? The odds and consequences of NOT getting the vaccine are far more severe both to you and to the community than the issues associated with any vaccine. While there may be a very small group who are super sensitive to vaccines, most of us will have a sore arm and perhaps a day or two of mild discomfort. That’s preferable to a stay in the hospital and an appointment with a ventilator - and a small price to pay for the child next door, your co-worker’s kids, or grandkids and to fight against a bigger and badder bug being bred because people won’t get vaccinated. 

One of my favorite articles about the flu vaccine has a harsh headline: “Hey Asshole, the Flu Shot Isn’t About You.” The main gist of the article is that you, “’…get immunized to protect those who can’t protect themselves.’”

The article emphasizes the number of people who die each year from the flu. Similarly,  by getting vaccinated against COVID-19, you are helping to protect those who cannot yet be vaccinated! You are doing your part to reduce the chance that COVID will come knocking on your door, their door, or to someone you love. 

Getting an appointment to be vaccinated is increasingly more convenient. Many places are taking walk-ins. Call your public health department. Call your town, city, or village. You don’t need a computer to make an appointment; you just need the desire to protect yourself and the people around you. Questions? Not so sure? Call your doctor. Your doctor knows you and will be able to address your concerns. 

Getting the vaccine is like sharing your umbrella. It is a way to help the kids in your community, your friend’s children and grandchildren, and those who are not able to get the vaccine. The price is minimal and the payoff is priceless. Everyone benefits from your good deed. 

Go get vaccinated – now!