Can we calm down?

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/10/2021 (1445 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last night, while scanning my usual Facebook pages, I noticed a fight brewing among folks who were discussing people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition to the usual bromides about social irresponsibility, there was a small debate about the concept of levying fees on unvaccinated people for various health-care problems.

Can we all just calm down?

There is a tremendous amount of disinformation flying around about COVID-19, and particularly about vaccines. I’m not a medical expert, nor someone particularly schooled in vaccines. So, I reached out to my friends who are.

In simple terms, the role of the vaccine is to lessen the severity of COVID-19 symptoms. As an offshoot of this, we would be flattening the curve as fewer people get sick; those who get sick are less likely to be hospitalized; those hospitalized are less likely to die; and so on.

(I’m not entirely sure why a vaccine has become so politicized because we don’t act the same way about the polio vaccine, or smallpox, or the flu shots, but whatever.)

I have received both jabs and I’m glad I have. This doesn’t mean I can’t get COVID-19, or pass it along, but it does mean that the likelihood I will suffer terribly from it is significantly reduced. This is not my opinion — this is the fact.

If you are looking for perfection, then you should look elsewhere.

No vaccine is perfect, but the results of the main vaccines we are using here have been remarkable. They are not perfect, however. If this is your argument against the vaccine, then you have a standard against which nothing can compare.

By getting the vaccine, I am first protecting myself. In a broader sense, I am also protecting others who may need to access our health-care system for more urgent needs. I am flattening the curve as are hundreds of thousands of Manitobans.

By getting vaccinated, we are helping reopen an economy that was hammered by closures. We are helping governments slow their spending on COVID-19 relief programs. We are helping our small-business owner friends recover. These are all good things.

Conversely, I was quite disappointed that some are arguing that unvaccinated people should be required to pay for their own health care. This, for me, is ludicrous.

We don’t levy extra health-care expenses on smokers or motorcycle drivers. These are two examples of people whose behaviour can have negative health-care impacts. There are many others.

Some pay higher premiums on insurance or through taxes on their products, but it is not as direct a line as forcing patients to cover their costs if they act in socially undesirable manners.

So, while this idea sounds compelling, that you pay for your actions, let’s realize that we are building a society here, as stated by George Costanza.

By the same token, the anti-vaxxer crowd that is protesting hospitals need to just stop. You are not helping anyone and are doing harm. If you want society to tolerate your point of view and your freedoms, you would be well-served to be as generous with others.

A good friend of mine suggested that anti-vaxxers may, in fact, be solely talking with each other.

They reside in a vacuum in which such actions are being justified by each other. Not a bad analysis and maybe the only way to understand why good people can get caught up in unproductive actions.

There are differing views on mandates. I support them. While they seem harsh, and may be, I think they reflect governments that are absolutely at wit’s end about getting the unvaccinated to join the team. These governments and institutions are out of tools to affect this policy – they’ve offered lotteries and more freedom. This is a carrot-and-stick situation. (Note that we need to accommodate those immunocompromised people unable to receive vaccinations.)

Ultimately, society reopens and we get on with our lives when the curve is flattened and we stop getting so sick. Vaccines are the only tool to help us get there.

At the end of COVID-19, there will be a need for us to rebuild the social constructs in our society. We need to reconcile with our friends, neighbours and co-workers. This will not be easy. We’ve experienced a wrenching virus that has damaged much more than our health. Hopefully, we can repair these relationships, but it will begin with kindness, generosity and grace. The time to start this is today.