My wife and I got vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as our age group was allowed. I strongly recommend that everyone eligible for vaccination get it done ASAP. You might save yourself from sickness or death, and you won’t be transmitting the virus to family, friends or neighbors.
It is highly unfortunate that so many eligible people refuse the vaccination. Those who don’t want to be vaccinated tend to be in demographic groups – young people who think they’re invincible; minority and lower-income people who might not know the facts about the virus, and who might be distrustful; and some strong conservatives who, for almost ideological reasons, rebel against the “experts” and the politicians who are pressuring them to be vaccinated.
I can’t do much about the first two groups, but I do have some advice for the last group. After all, I’m a conservative. I don’t like shutdowns or mandates. But I do believe everyone eligible should voluntarily get the shot.
Here’s the truth: You can oppose mandatory vaccinations and still get vaccinated. You can oppose mask mandates and still get vaccinated. You can oppose vaccine passports and still get vaccinated. You can resent the preachy “experts” for issuing contradictory information and still get vaccinated.
Remember, it was conservative hero Donald Trump who rallied and cajoled the pharmaceutical world to develop remarkably effective vaccines in record time. He deserves a lot of credit for that. His fast work probably saved millions of lives. Trump himself has encouraged everyone to get vaccinated.
Popular conservative media personalities are partly to blame for the vaccination slump because they continually downplay it, focus on the mixed signals, and talk as though the governing class is attempting to force everyone to be vaccinated.
However, if you listen carefully, most of them will note that they, themselves, have been vaccinated and they will often say, as an aside, that they’re not trying to discourage people from voluntarily being vaccinated.
Again, I don’t like mandates. I don’t like the “big brother” pushy approach to get people vaccinated. The rhetoric and mixed signals of some of the holier-than-thou experts and liberal commentators absolutely rub me the wrong way.
But none of that should prevent me – or you – from doing the smart thing to protect our health and our families.
You absolutely can be a strong conservative – even a proud right-wing activist – and still get the shot. Just do it.
