Anti-vaxxers send dangerous message
DEAR EDITOR:
Otto von Bismarck was a politician and writer who succeeded in the unification of Germany 150 years ago, becoming its first chancellor. He gained a reputation for very witty and thought-provoking comments like “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.”
Von Bismarck spoke many more words of wisdom. If he were he alive today, he would quickly acknowledge the over-arching problem that some governments are unable to persuade enough citizens to get inoculated against COVID-19.
Several countries have an abundance of the vaccine, while in poorer countries many more die due to the lack of it.
Anti-vaxxers somewhat gleefully spread disinformation via social media and other means, while claiming to know more than the scientists who spent lifetimes developing vaccines, and more than the epidemiologists who spent lifetimes studying viral diseases.
America is far from alone in this thorny predicament, but using the Excited States as an example, it’s sad, but true, that politics and religion play a large part in the minds of anti-vaxxers there, so promises made by the new president that the coronavirus would be beaten by Independence Day have fallen flat.
The vaccination rate reached a plateau that is way below herd immunity. Political polarization is so very evident with individual states being responsible for health care; COVID counts are especially high where Republican governors were elected, with many of their political and religious supporters adamantly refusing vaccinations.
The president claims he’s grappling with a pandemic of the unvaccinated; some public and private employers offer incentives to their vaccinated workers, enforcing frequent testing protocols if they refuse. As in many other countries, the U.S. unvaccinated numbers are still staggering, but here’s the promised quote from Otto von Bismark.
“There is a providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.”
Maybe some anti-vaxxers are willing to bet their lives that Otto von Bismarck knew whereof he spoke.
Bernie Smith Parksville