Anti-Vaxxers Screw Themselves and Us

It has been suggested if the current Republican Party and today’s FOX news were around when vaccinations for smallpox and polio were developed, we would still be fighting those diseases. There have always been anti-vaxxers and you can read about them in The American Historian. The column suggests vaccine resistance over the years was rooted in social movements more than anti-vaccine movements. Yet government took control an example being demanding all children get vaccinated in order to attend school.

President Biden is finally moving in that direction announcing a vaccine mandate for federal workers. The Washington Post in a column by Eli Rosenberg reported some unions object and want to bargain over it and one, The Federal Law Enforcement Association, attacked the mandate saying; “requiring vaccinations represents an infringement on ‘civil rights’”. Not taking the vaccine represents an infringement on my right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit happiness’. Your members not taking the vaccine puts my life and other lives in danger. Get over yourselves; take the damn vaccine!

Proclaiming your ‘individuality’ is fine if it doesn’t threaten the lives of everyone around you. Anyone with Covid impacts everyone in the community. A person who gets ill when they could have prevented that with a safe free vaccination, then passes it on to others, must be held responsible.

Government should do more and follow our European allies and develop a national vaccine passport so responsible people can easily prove they have been vaccinated. In this way when businesses mandate vaccinations for their employees, and they are, people will have an easy way to prove their compliance. California and New York have begun to demand this of their employees. Bars and restaurants in San Francisco and some LGBTQ bars and theaters in DC now will ask for proof of vaccination to enter. The same should happen everywhere and include restaurants, sports venues, concert venues, airlines, and cruise ships. New York City is the first city to formally move in this direction. All should require proof of vaccination for entrance. If that doesn’t happen we will find ourselves not only back to wearing masks but more. If you choose not to be vaccinated stay home.

All healthcare facilities; doctors’ offices, urgent care facilities, and hospitals are beginning to demand employees be vaccinated. No one should have to be seen by a provider who could have covid and possibly pass it on to them. Healthcare costs should not go up because some people think they have the right to not take a fully tested vaccine to prevent their own and other people’s illness.

It’s time to throw out politicians like Ron DeSantis, the incredibly stupid Governor of Florida, who believes it’s appropriate to force cruise ships to accept unvaccinated passengers. In doing so he is responsible for putting at risk responsible people who have been vaccinated and want to travel safely. In the last day a federal judge ruled he cannot do this.

Countries around the world are now requiring visitors from the United States to show proof of vaccination to enter. This supports the need for President Biden to act NOW and have the government develop a national vaccine document. It’s not about politics, it’s not a Democrat or Republican thing; it is about protecting people’s health.

If you continue to believe the virus is a ‘hoax’ or want to proclaim your individuality or ‘freedom’; you are a moron. Stay home and only associate with others who are as dumb as you are. If you get sick or die from what you believe is a ‘hoax’ don’t expect others to pay for your healthcare or show compassion. What the rest of us ask of you is simple; don’t put our lives in danger because of your stupidity.

Recently there has been a slight change in tone from FOX news personalities like Sean Hannity and Republican members of Congress like anti-LGBTQ Steve Scalise (R- LA) and ‘Moscow’ Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who are now suggesting vaccination. Apparently they woke up and realized it’s their own viewers and voters getting sick and dying after listening to months of their lies and stupidity. The lies they spread surely make them collaborators in the deaths of thousands.

I am very aware there are those who cannot yet get the vaccine. Children under twelve, those with certain health conditions, and those in poor countries who don’t have access to it. We must all do everything we can to make it available around the world for those who can take it and ensure we don’t put those who can’t in danger.

It is past time to tell all those who would put the rest of us at risk for serious illness and even death we will no longer cater to their shallowness. We will not be held hostage to a disease because they are either dumb, inconsiderate, or worse.