It’s our patriotic duty to take COVID-19 vaccine
“The darkest days of the pandemic are still before us.”
Far from the East Coast stiffness of his colleagues, he was a humble and relaxed physician who always kept a partially solved Rubik’s cube and began each morning before rounds with an insightful personal question: “What words do you live by? What would you tell your former self ?”
Even the briefest interaction with him left you with an infectious optimism and excitement for the future. Until now.
Now, his voice was muddled with a distinct anxiety for the coming months, foreseeing the all-but-certain spike in cases thatwill inevitably come after Thanksgiving, and the funerals that will follow by Christmas.
With winter on our horizon, the shorter days and cooler weather wrap us all in a weighted blanket of melancholy. Throughout the country there is waning energy for social distancing, for mask mandates, for all of the current tools we have to stem the tide of a virus that burns uncontrollably throughout our nation.
There is still hope
Through intense scientific innovation and extraordinarily rigorous testing, Astrazeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna have created vaccines far more effective than the seasonal flu vaccine that have been demonstrated to be safe in tens of thousands of people. In times like these, we must reflect on the role of vaccines in our history.
How global inoculation against polio allows us to have leisurely days at the lake without fear of becoming one of thousands who would spend their lives in a row of iron lungs. How measles vaccinations prevented the deaths of tens of millions of children.
As a medical student and someone who will most likely be one of the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, I will lead by example and do so enthusiastically. I encourage my fellow Tennesseans and fellow Americans to join me in rolling up our sleeves for the wellbeing of the nation we all love dearly.
I will take the vaccine because I believe in the scientific process
I believe in the professionals who wake up every morning with the sole intent of saving the planet. And I believe in the American people to do what is right to protect our neighbors.
But in this call for unity against an enemy intent on breaking down our collective spirit, I offer a dire warning: Widespread vaccination against COVID-19 is unquestioningly our last hope at returning to a semblance of the before times.
It is our last hope of spontaneous trips to see friends and family without scheduled testing beforehand. It is our last hope to end the mind-numbing loneliness of isolation. And with a deep ache in my heart, this vaccine is the last thing that will keep us from burying so many of the people we love.
So with slightly diminished lung capacity and a heart bent on American success, I call upon every Tennessean to join me. Get vaccinated. Not just for your own health, but for the health of our neighbors, friends, and family. For the young and the old. The sick and the healthy.
During one of the most extreme periods of death in American history, during a season of unprecedented national hardship and sacrifice, we have the duty to rise to the call to arms, the same way The greatest generation did decades ago during the war.
We have the ability to end this together.
One shot at a time. Who’s with me?
Rob Ledbetter, a Columbia, Tennessee, native, is a third-year medical student in Winston-salem, North Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and Columbia Central High School.
Rachael Ledbetter, also a Columbia, Tennessee, native, is a graduate of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphrey’s School of Law with a professional interest in public policy advocacy and health equity.
Rohin Gawdi is a third-year medical student in Winston-salem, North Carolina, with a professional interest in science policy and surgical oncology.