
And in the other ring, we have the holdouts, who blame the vaccinated for allowing themselves to be “lab rats” for a rushed vaccine that might have unknown long-term side effects. Also, they accuse the vaccinated for being arrogant in their vaccination status.
Hit the bell and fight!
My oh my, the things we can fight over. I’ll tell you my stand on the issue: I am vaccinated. The second dose of that Moderna vaccine made me sick as a dog for five days. I felt awful, pukish, achier and stiffer than a droid on Tattoine, and had the worst headache of my life (which is saying a lot, considering how common headaches are for me). I wondered if I had made the worst mistakes of my life. But the effects passed, praise the Lord, and I’m ok now. I do cringe when they mention possible boosters in the fall. I’m not a huge fan of that. I’ll probably have it if it’s necessary. I didn’t come this far to drop out in the last leg of the race, but I won’t be happy about it. I might as well finish it.
Why go through all of that? The mandates are lifting, and everybody wants to get out and about. I don’t know about where you live, but South Carolina is pretty much out of lockdown and we’ve been thrust back into “life as normal” since March, so retreating to solitude is no longer an option. I feel more confident about going about my daily business, and it is nice not to have to wear a mask, especially in the oppressive heat and humidity of the summer (that’s tough on the sinuses, too). And frankly, I have been burned by past experience. I got the flu and pink eye from people who didn’t stay home when they got sick, and I don’t have much trust that the non-vaccinated would recognize their symptoms for what they are if they got COVID and work or go out as long as possible before their symptoms are too obvious to hide. Be honest, how many of you worked with an “it’s just allergies!” person, and the whole office had a cold a week later? Answer: everybody.
Sorry folks, but it’s the truth. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t believe COVID was a natural phenomenon. That crap was cooked up in a lab in China and escaped in a way similar to The Stand. But who cares about my conspiracy theories?
Let’s get back on topic. Are the unvaccinated to blame? It’s questionable that the vaccine would eradicate COVID, given a virus’ mutation. A vaccine might cut it back, but I think it’s too far gone to eradicate. There are vaccines for the flu, but they don’t always work. There’s also a vaccine for pneumonia, but it’s only for the viral strains, and you can still get a bacterial strain. So vaccines, while good, are not a magic cure-all. And COVID is mutating much like the flu does, so I’m not sure that the “the unvaccinated are keeping the virus alive!” argument is valid. It’s not helping, but there’s no way to know how much it’s hurting.
Then there are some who can’t get the vaccine because of allergies or other issues. Human bodies are weird, life is weird, and it happens. It’s not fair to vilify somebody whose better option for their own health is to skip it and take their chances. It doesn’t put them in a good place, anyway. I’m sure they’re plenty nervous.
As with many things in life, there isn’t one good answer. I wish everybody who could get vaccinated would. But then again, I’m a big believer that the Lord gave us the understanding of science to make life better and help ourselves. Some don’t believe in that, doctors, medicine, vaccines, etc. They think natural is the way to go. I envy those with strong immune systems, because mine is more like a petulant toddler being potty trained that just learned the word “no.” I have use all medical resources to jerk it up under the arms and drag it to doing what it’s supposed to do, or I’d still have that pink eye from 2019. It took me four and a half months to kick that one to the curb because everybody wanted to “be gentle with it.” It took repeated complaints, visits, calls, complaints, and a promise that I wouldn’t go away until I got better to two different doctors before they finally got tired enough of me complaining to put me on two rounds of steroid drops to force it out of my body. My immune system regards “gentle” as nonexistent. I have to get the big guns after it.
It's just best I don’t get sick. Hence, I got the vaccine. I changed doctors, too. I'm actually in a completely different practice now. It was a pain to change, but worth it to have a doctor that actually listens and does something.
It comes back to personal decisions and what you feel is right. Once again, we can argue and fight, but the truth is out there somewhere beyond us and our control. In the end, everybody is going to do what they feel is right, and we’ll have to live with the rewards or consequences of it.
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Bye!