I was recently asked on Facebook why I got vaccinated.

The difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated people is that vaccinated people have antibodies, or an army of defense cells, against COVID-19.

Without the vaccination you have a minimal layer of defense and the virus is free to replicate, spread and cause illness as much as it pleases, which is why mostly unvaccinated people are those getting sickest and dying. In fact, the unvaccinated are 17 times more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 – and that’s preventable by getting the shot.

Tharon Johnson

Credit: Courtesy photo

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Credit: Courtesy photo

If you get into a fight, would you rather have weapons and an army of defense -- or nothing at all?

Ultimately, if enough people get vaccinated then we could knock down the level of virus to the point that it could stop mutating and spreading more disease.

That is why I got the vaccination, and I urge others to #GetTheShot too.

Tharon Johnson is founder and CEO of Paramount Consulting Group, a full-service, bipartisan public affairs and communications firm based in Atlanta serving clients in the corporate and political sectors.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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