I have been struggling with this. The public health people say we need to have empathy and communicate better, and I've tried to do that. But when more than half of the police officers and firefighters in my solid blue city are unvaxxed, I've had it. I was particularly disgusted by Andy Slavitt's two podcasts on vaccine "hesitancy". He spoke with the vile and stupid Hugh Hewitt, and the Republican advancer Frank Luntz, who spent the whole interview (at least until I turned it off) advancing Chris Christie, who clearly has him on contract, and trashing VP Kamala Harris, while lifting up AARP. His strategy is clear! So I'm done with Slavitt, and I'm done with empathy.
It is time to require vaccine passports. I just spent a lovely family vacation in Hawaii. We had to show proof of vaccine or a negative test within 72 hours in order to get off the plane! It was so nice to be almost back to normal, and no one objected to putting on a mask in a store or indoor restaurant. All the servers wore masks without complaint.
It is no coincidence that the region of the country with the highest rate of vaccination is New England. It's not necessarily that New Englanders are smarter than other folks, but it is definitely part of the fundamental regional culture to care more about the common good of the community. That's why taxes here are so high. It's why most cities and towns were historically laid out around a common grazing ground, or green (the Boston Common and the New Haven Green being two striking examples, along with extant greens in places like Litchfield, Milford, and Fairfield).
This isn't so much a question of superior virtue as it is one of a certain underlying sensibility that just develops in people from living here. People are getting vaccinated here not only to protect themselves and their families, but their wider community as well.
For all the other limitations, drawbacks and challenges that face our region, in this particular scenario we were hard-wired to shine (relative to the rest of the country). In other regions more attuned to personal freedom and a sense of every man for himself, the vaccine is proving a much harder sell. There's not only politics at work here. There's culture, too. We need to realize that.
I like your seatbelt analogy as a way to describe anti-vaxxers, but I don’t think it fully captures the consequences of their actions. I feel those unwilling to get vaccinated are more akin to habitual drunk drivers—fully sure of themselves that they are capable to safely drive, while also being a clear and present danger to innocent bystanders because of their lack of responsibility to the community. They know what they are doing is morally wrong and dangerous, they just think of themselves as better than everyone else.
I have been struggling with this. The public health people say we need to have empathy and communicate better, and I've tried to do that. But when more than half of the police officers and firefighters in my solid blue city are unvaxxed, I've had it. I was particularly disgusted by Andy Slavitt's two podcasts on vaccine "hesitancy". He spoke with the vile and stupid Hugh Hewitt, and the Republican advancer Frank Luntz, who spent the whole interview (at least until I turned it off) advancing Chris Christie, who clearly has him on contract, and trashing VP Kamala Harris, while lifting up AARP. His strategy is clear! So I'm done with Slavitt, and I'm done with empathy.
It is time to require vaccine passports. I just spent a lovely family vacation in Hawaii. We had to show proof of vaccine or a negative test within 72 hours in order to get off the plane! It was so nice to be almost back to normal, and no one objected to putting on a mask in a store or indoor restaurant. All the servers wore masks without complaint.
For those in Los Angeles, here's a list of bars that are now requiring a vaccine passport to get in to a safe and fun drinking experience: https://www.lataco.com/bars-asking-vaccine-proof-covid/ ;-)
It is no coincidence that the region of the country with the highest rate of vaccination is New England. It's not necessarily that New Englanders are smarter than other folks, but it is definitely part of the fundamental regional culture to care more about the common good of the community. That's why taxes here are so high. It's why most cities and towns were historically laid out around a common grazing ground, or green (the Boston Common and the New Haven Green being two striking examples, along with extant greens in places like Litchfield, Milford, and Fairfield).
This isn't so much a question of superior virtue as it is one of a certain underlying sensibility that just develops in people from living here. People are getting vaccinated here not only to protect themselves and their families, but their wider community as well.
For all the other limitations, drawbacks and challenges that face our region, in this particular scenario we were hard-wired to shine (relative to the rest of the country). In other regions more attuned to personal freedom and a sense of every man for himself, the vaccine is proving a much harder sell. There's not only politics at work here. There's culture, too. We need to realize that.
If nothing else the pandemic has reminded me how fortunate I am to have been born and raised (and stayed) in New England, high taxes and all.
I like your seatbelt analogy as a way to describe anti-vaxxers, but I don’t think it fully captures the consequences of their actions. I feel those unwilling to get vaccinated are more akin to habitual drunk drivers—fully sure of themselves that they are capable to safely drive, while also being a clear and present danger to innocent bystanders because of their lack of responsibility to the community. They know what they are doing is morally wrong and dangerous, they just think of themselves as better than everyone else.
I've no time for any of these conservative freaks. I and grateful to live in a liberal area of a liberal state.
Shorter version: if you choose not to get vaccinated and die of COVID, good riddance.