To Vax or Not to Vax … That is the Question!
This is my COVID Bulletin №4: “Rules, Fools, and Mules”
Today, my COVID Bulletin No4 takes a look at COVID strategies, ending with a look at Anti-Vaxxers. And for those who like satirical songs, I’ve re-written an old-time favourite, especially for anti-vaxxers!
Note: As before, I write from a science background, and though I have access to updated real COVID Bulletins, via my membership of The Royal Society of Biology, I also try to summarize info from a variety of sources in an attempt to glean an accurate reflection of the current/or near-current science of COVID.
Some less-than-scientific views float around from time-to-time and receive popular attention, being spread and multiplied via social media. One such view is promoted by Anti-vaxxers … people who don’t accept or don’t believe in the efficacy of vaccines, especially the Covid-19 vaccine.
There are of course those who hesitate to get vaccinated; those who are fearful of side effects; and those who are immuno-compromised or have existing health issues that might make them particularly vulnerable. These people are not anti-vaxxers. However, anyone who is simply hesitating (with no sound reason) could do well to remember the old saying: “He who hesitates is lost”
What will you choose?
In earlier COVID Bulletins I’ve written about the viral variants of COVID-19, mentioning in particular the super-transmission ‘power’ of the Delta Variant that’s currently ravaging the world. I also quoted one virus researcher who said, when he was first focusing on the earlier strain (the Alpha Variant):
"This virus is super sneaky; The question is, what other tricks does it have?” … Neven Krogan, geneticist at University of California, San Francisco
To which I added the comment: “Indeed! What other tricks?”
Note: More COVID info can be found in my other COVID Bulletins. I’ll put a link to all my COVID Bulletins at the end of this one.
Today (late-August 2021), most countries around the world are experiencing the realities of living with the Delta Variant. Governments have come up with various strategies for dealing with it, like:
* Opening up society fully; * locking down an area; * opening again!
* Reducing numbers at weddings & funerals; * banning singing & dancing
* Restricting interstate travel; * setting up quarantine centers.
* Opening again! * Having hospitals on alert and ‘ready’ with special protective clothing for health-workers.
* Cancelling elective surgery to make more beds & Intensive Care Units (ICUs) available for COVID victims.
* Locking-down again! * Making vaccines mandatory.
* even “no jab — no job” declarations, and * COVID vaccine passports.
I guess that all the above and more, are understandable human reactions to a threat that is (still) largely unknown. And much of what’s gone on so far is more like ‘guessing’; perhaps even pseudo-scientific; certainly not certain!
And what about the costs of lockdowns etc? … Real social costs in addition to economic costs; and the effects on businesses, workers, and ordinary folk. An article published in The Weekend Australian’s ‘review’ magazine on 28th August 2021, contains a review by William Poulos of a new book, titled: “THE GREAT COVID PANIC: What happened, Why, and What to do Next”. (Paul Frijters, Gigi Foster, and Michael Baker: Brownstone Publishing)
Poulos extracts this point: “(What are) the effects on people’s jobs and savings, the effects on unfathomable government debt, the stress of lockdowns and masks, the effects they have on social and political stability, the pain of missing friends and family, the delayed treatment of other illnesses, the inability to make long- term plans, the theft of freedom and privacy, the moral question about how much burden a government can dump on its citizens.”
He also adds: “it’s pointless (just to say:) ‘follow the science’ because whether or not restrictions are justified is not a purely scientific question”
Truth is we cannot predict tomorrow, which adds to this sense of uncertainty. Even Science cannot and does not predict tomorrow with absolute accuracy. And neither it seems, does the COVID virus! (Which Variant tomorrow?)
And it’s true … Science does not predict. Let us not forget that modern scientific findings are always checked and re-checked; always under review; always being further investigated; always ‘expecting the unexpected’. As I said in my COVID Bulletin №2:
“That’s what science is all about: … not certainty … ***** just the certainty of knowing that there is no certainty … ********** and that ‘where we are now’ is only ‘where we are now’!”
All the above makes sensible reading and may be seen as sensible analysis, but what about Anti-Vaxxers? Where do they stand?
And so, to my Anti-vaxxer Finale
(Including the promised closing song) (These are mostly my own personal views and opinions):
To my mind, the reaction of anti-vaxxers is illogical, totally un-scientific, and ridiculously stupid.
They say things like: “The science is wrong”, not just cautionary, but wrong. And they make non-sensical statements like this one that was said to me by an anti-vaxxer only last week:
“You can still get COVID even if you are vaccinated” … said with an air of great confidence (their ‘scientific proof’ that vaccines just don’t work? !!).
If this is their claim to anything like a scientific understanding, then I for one want nothing to do with anti-vaxxers.
‘How to deal with anti-vaxxers’:
Kerry Stokes, one of Australia’s media magnates was quoted in this week’s Weekend Australian newspaper as saying:
“There will be people who don’t want to get vaccinated, and they need to take their own responsibility for that. We shouldn’t lock-down the country for them.” … Kerry Stokes in The Weekend Australian 28th August 2021.
I guess that’s one way of saying: “forget about them”.
Here is my ‘take’ on the anti-vaxxer issue I have four suggestions (including a song!):
1: Write a song and sing it. This is not a joke … my song is shown below.
2: Argue with them in a serious debate. Now this is a joke!
3: Mandate Vaccination for everything that matters to society (you can make your own list of activities, occupations, people groups; etc that this could be applied to). This would mean an automatic lock-out from these ‘activities’ for anti-vaxxers.
4: Let them sink or swim … (or change their mind). On 27th August 2021, data on hospitalizations and ICU occupancy for COVID sufferers in Australia’s most populous state (New South Wales), tells us that the vast majority of cases, and most deaths are of Unvaccinated people.
Also, on 28th August 2021, the US state of Florida released data showing that 90% of COVID-related deaths in that state were of Unvaccinated people.
I rest my case.
My song: “Rules, Fools, and Mules”
(Based on the old-time favorite: ‘Would you like to swing on a star?’ You can sing it to that song’s tune, or you can make up your own!
Would you like to travel afar? with a passport saying you are: ‘Free to mix, or see ma & pa’?
Or would you rather be a mule?
A mule is an animal with long funny ears (hey!) Kicks up at anything he hears (like rules!) His back is brawny, but his brain is weak (!!!) He’s just plain stupid with a stubborn streak And by the way, if you want to play the fool You may grow up to be a mule
This article is one of my series of COVID Bulletins. To read the whole series, just click on this link
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“To vax or Not to Vax …” * written by Fred: Almost Famous * * * * * © Fred Ogden 2021 * * * * *
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