The “sense of celebration was palpable,” the New York Times begins. Just weeks ago, it seemed the country was on the back side of the Covid pandemic. Then the Delta variant began to bite overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated, among the misinformed, the vaccine-hesitant, the propagandized, and among belligerent Trump-o-manicas who consider any un-Trump-sanctioned behavior treason.
The rest are losing patience with those who reject vaccination out of political grievance and a warped sense of personal freedom. Vaccine refuseniks are making the lives of Covid-weary neighbors difficult once again while putting the lives of children under 12 at risk. Calls for vaccination mandates are on the rise for municipal and federal employees as new infections rise:
“I’ve become angrier as time has gone on,” said Doug Robertson, 39, a teacher who lives outside Portland, Ore., and has three children too young to be vaccinated, including a toddler with a serious health condition.
“Now there is a vaccine and a light at the end of the tunnel, and some people are choosing not to walk toward it,” he said. “You are making it darker for my family and others like mine by making that choice.”
The resurgence is straining families:
Josh Perldeiner, 36, a public defender in Connecticut who has a 2-year-old son, was fully vaccinated by mid-May. But a close relative, who visits frequently, has refused to get the shots, although he and other family members have urged her to do so.
She recently tested positive for the virus after traveling to Florida, where hospitals are filling with Covid-19 patients. Now Mr. Perldeiner worries that his son, too young for a vaccine, may have been exposed.
“It goes beyond just putting us at risk,” he said. “People with privilege are refusing the vaccine, and it’s affecting our economy and perpetuating the cycle.” As infections rise, he added, “I feel like we’re at that same precipice as just a year ago, where people don’t care if more people die.”
Even the vaccinated have to worry abour getting “breakthrough” infections.
Aimee McLean, a nurse case manager at Salt Lake City’s University of Utah Hospital, is not the first to suggest insurance companies link coverage for Covid medical bills to vaccination status. “If you choose not to be part of the solution, then you should be accountable for the consequences,” she said.
“If we’re respecting the rights and liberties of the unvaccinated, what’s happening to the rights and liberties of the vaccinated?” said Elif Akcali, 49, who teaches engineering at the University of Florida, in Gainesville. The university is not requiring students to be vaccinated, and with rates climbing in Florida, she is worried about exposure to the virus.
Sadly, it is going to take a brush with death to change many minds. If they are lucky enough to survive.
Being on a ventilator with Covid changed conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine, his brother told CNN (Mediaite):
“Phil would like for his listeners to know that while he has never been an ‘anti-vaxer’ he regrets not being more vehemently ‘Pro-Vaccine,’ and looks forward to being able to more vigorously advocate that position as soon as he is back on the air, which we all hope will be soon,” his family said in a Friday statement. “Phil & his family would like for all of you to know that he loves ya’ll and appreciates your concern, thoughts & prayers more than you will ever know. Please continue to pray for his recovery and please go get vaccinated!”
John Berman asked his guest about Valentine’s experience, saying his brother’s hospitalization “basically scared [him] straight.
“I went directly to the Walmart and got the vaccine and said, you know, you pick the arm, I don’t care, just do it,” Valentine revealed. He added that his mission is to tell the vaccine-hesitant now to “quit worrying about the politics and the conspiracies and all that sort of stuff.”
But punitive measures or social ostracism could backfire, “experts warn.” Perhaps gentle persuasion?
BREAKING: The Department of Justice releases another video from January 6th.