To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate
Leave us our freedom to decide for ourselves
Earlier today I posted the following message on a popular social media site:
I’m getting so sick and tired of people bragging ‘I got vaccinated’. Well good for you, what do you want, a medal? I DID NOT get vaccinated because I don’t play Russian roulette with my health. I’ve been fine and safe for 1,5 years and I’ll continue to be fine. And if I get infected, so what, I have every chance of recovery.
An online friend, let’s call him Max, responded with:
So you’re good with the 4 million dead folks?
Of course, I’m not good with four million people dying, but let’s look at this realistically.
1.35 million people die every year of car accidents. Yet we all get in our cars every day that take us from point A to point B. While some people drive carefully, others throw caution to the wind. They drive drunk, they drive under the influence of drugs, they exceed the speed limit, or drive with an unsafe vehicle.
Add to that the death toll of people who die on motorcycles, bicycles, and skateboards. Come to think of it, even pedestrians aren’t safe. They can fall, hit their head, and die. They can cross a street and be mowed down by a car. They can even be hit on sidewalks.
2.3 million people die of work-related accidents and diseases. Yet every day people go to work. People working in an office are fairly safe, but what about those in high-risk jobs? Construction workers, window washers, roofers, fishermen, police officers, firemen, etc. What if these people suddenly decided that their job was too dangerous and decided to pack it in.
17.9 million people die of heart disease each year. Yet the majority of people happily drink alcohol, knowing full well that alcohol leads to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, not to mention liver cancer. They gobble up hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, and other junk food. Do they think of their cholesterol? Does it even cross their mind that they could keel over at any time from a heart attack?
And what about stress? While the majority of people stick to 9–5 jobs, quite a number of them are overachievers, working 50, 60, or even more hours a week. They want to meet deadlines, they want to please their boss, they want that promotion, they are in competition with others, they want to earn more money. Do they ever consider that this insane work schedule takes its toll on their health?
So don’t tell me that I don’t care about the four million people who died of the Covid-19 virus. I do care, but I care about my health too.
I read about people developing blood clots, I read about people developing heart disease, I read about people developing cerebral palsy.
True, those are isolated cases. Millions of people received the vaccine and are fine, but some of them are not. Can you guarantee me that I will be fine? Or will I be one of the few who will die of the side effects of the vaccine?
I don’t know. You don’t know. Nobody knows because the vaccine hasn’t been around long enough. It’s not even FDA-approved.
And what about the long-term side effects. True, those vaccinated might be safe (for a while) from the Covid-19 virus, but what about later in life? What will this vaccine do to them in the long run? Will they be more susceptible to certain diseases? Will they still be able to have children? Will those children be born normally? Again, nobody knows because the vaccine hasn’t been around long enough.
People have strong opinions about the vaccine. Those who are vaccinated will defend their point of view and shun those who are not vaccinated. Those who are against the vaccine will defend their point of view, pointing out the high risk.
Why can’t we leave each other alone and respect each others’ decisions? If someone wants the vaccine, fine. If someone doesn’t, that should be fine too. Leave us our freedom to decide. Why go around bragging with stickers, buttons, and other nonsense.
In fact, leave us our freedom to speak and to publish. Any messages speaking against the vaccine are deleted from social media sites. Mine was deleted and those of my friends were too.
In a way, the government is to blame for the lack of trust. We have been lied to for so long, about so many things, that we can no longer trust them. Do they have our best interest at heart or do they have a stake in the pharmaceutical companies?
Pfizer made a whopping 15 billion dollars with their vaccine. Safe to say, Moderna and Astra are laughing all the way to the bank too.
The fact is, nobody is safe and everybody should still be cautious. Wear a mask, practice social distancing and wash hands. It’s not because you are partially or fully vaccinated that you can’t get the Covid-19 virus anymore or that you can’t transmit it to others.
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