The Vax
Not Everyone Who is Anti Covid Vaccine, is an Anti-Vaxer.
Anti- vaxer.
Cov-idiot.
Selfish.
Don’t you care about others?
Are you trying to kill the vulnerable?
Don’t you care about the vulnerable population?
Just get the shot, you’ve had all the others why is this one different?
All the above used have been used in reference to me, or said to me…
Here we are, with 2021, slowly creeping to an end. Which is more than I can say about the pandemic. Which seems to hold on tightly to the US and much of the world.
And of course, that’s my fault. I am responsible for the ongoing pandemic.
Why is it my fault?
Because I refuse to get the covid vaccine.
Before you ask, no… I am absolutely am NOT anti-vaccine.
In fact, quite the opposite. I have had more vaccines than most people my age. At 16, I had my first round of pneumonia. Which was the beginning of 16 years of Christmas time pneumonia.
At 32, they put me into ICU, and told that if I had waited even one more hour to go to the hospital, I would have died.
Pneumonia, my constant companion for decades, had finally tried to kill me, instead of just making me miserable.
I had sepsis and organ failure, a little parting gift from my good pal Pneumonia.
That was just the first of many “50 years old and up” vaccines that I would receive.
I have an autoimmune disease, which means my immune system is messed up. It attacks my joints, bones, and organs, instead of attacking germs and illnesses.
Because of that, I have to have all the vaccines that are usually reserved for the elderly. So I am NOT anti vaccine.
I have had all mine, and then some. My children have also had all the vaccines recommended/required by their pediatrician, excluding the covid vax.
So why am I refusing the covid vaccine, when I am so clearly not against vaccines? What makes this one different?
It is different. It is very different. At least in my opinion.
The year that I got my pneumonia vaccine was the last year that I had pneumonia. For 16 years, I got it every winter; then bam… Vaccinated, and never again. To me, that makes the risk lower than the benefit.
Now the covid vaccine is completely different in that aspect, because not only can you still get it, after vaccination, you can still spread it as well.
And what I find even more terrifying, is that those that have had the vaccine, can still get it, still spread it, and have ZERO outward appearing symptoms.
Which means when you go visit grandma at the nursing home, and you take off your mask because you have a false sense of security, you are still RISKING your loved ones.
At least with the unvaccinated, when they get it, they know it. There is no way that they can spread it unknowingly.
I have had covid. I’ve had the delta variant.
I am also the vulnerable that they say it will kill. Years of chemotherapy, and currently on immune suppressive medication, make me “the vulnerable”. PS: it’s not your job to protect me.
I didn’t die. I didn’t go to the hospital.
Yes, I know I was lucky.
I have never said this wasn’t a serious illness.
I know that seriousness will vary from person to person. Some will get it, and it will be no worse than the common cold, others will get it and feel terrible for a long while, and other get it and die.
I understand that.
What I don’t understand is forcing a vaccine that doesn’t actually stop the spread of the disease.
I don’t understand taking people’s medical rights and choices away. Because you do not know why they make that choice.
I don’t understand taking people’s jobs away because they refuse this vaccine. Especially when they have worked the last two years, under the worst and most stressful conditions.
Busting their assess to save lives.
Busting their asses to make sure stores have supplies.
Busting their asses to protect and serve.
And NOW you are going to fire them.
And what YOU don’t understand is that my auto immune disease makes it impossible to determine how my body will react to a vaccine. Maybe it will work like it’s supposed to.
OR it could cause my body to go into a serious autoimmune reaction. This means that I have to carefully weigh the risks VS benefits before getting ANY vaccine or taking any medication. Because anything that goes into my body can cause an autoimmune reaction.
And because it’s not an allergy, I wouldn’t qualify for a medical exemption.
Vaccines are an important part of society. No one denies that.
What is frustrating to people, is the government pushing a vaccine that:
~They have not even fully approved.
~That has had ZERO long-term studies.
~That doesn’t actually prevent the spread of the disease
~ That doesn’t even prevent you from getting the disease.
The point of a vaccine is to prevent one from getting the disease, and to prevent them from spreading it if they get it.
This vaccine doesn’t do any of that.
If you want to get the covid vaccination, the please do. I believe it should be free, and available for everyone that wants it. If it isn’t already.
If you don’t want to get it, that should be your choice as well.
This is something that should be discussed with your doctor, and no one else. Medical privacy is important.
There are many people that have valid reasons for not getting the vaccine.
It’s not all about being stubborn.
It’s not always about going against “the man/government”
It’s not about being told what to do.
It’s not about being Anti-vax.
It’s about having the right to decide for our own bodies.
And everyone deserves that right, no matter what their beliefs are.
I will argue your right to vaccinate, with as much passion as I will argue mine, not to.
Because only you know what’s right for your body. Just as only I know what’s right for mine.
Don’t let them segregate and divide us. Because I promise you… there is someone that you love and care about that doesn’t feel the same way as you do about vaccines.
Love each other.
And support each other, even when opinions differ. Because, at the end of the day, all you have is your loved ones. Don’t let a difference of opinion divide you.
I am Still Anti-mandate. And I have COVID. | by Rowen Quinn | ILLUMINATION | Aug, 2021 | Medium
Rowen is a mother, Wife, Domestic Violence Victims Advocate, community volunteer, and nature lover. Most of her time is spent with her family or volunteering in her community. Rowen has a degree in Psychology, with a concentration in Family Counseling and Minoring in criminal justice. Writing has been her passion since high school, and she enjoys using it to help others.