Disbelief, or doubt, should not prove dangerous.
Especially not to others who haven’t signed up for the added risk.
Those points stand out as Georgia and the rest of the United States are swept into another wave of COVID-19 cases – driven largely by people who haven’t been vaccinated.
Even with the misgivings and misinformation we’ve seen so far, the still-evolving course of the coronavirus pandemic shows that being fully inoculated and, yes, masking appropriately at times, significantly lowers the risk of harm to ourselves – and others.
The vaccines are proving to be a strong foil against a virus that’s killed more than 600,000 Americans so far.
No, they cannot provide 100% protection – few things in life are that certain. But even when “breakthrough” infections occur in vaccinated people, they are unlikely to require hospitalization or cause death.
That’s the best medical science can offer at this moment, and it holds much more hope than we saw in the early phases of the pandemic.
That alone should convince eligible, unvaccinated people to get inoculated. Rising COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations reinforce the point.
It’s a sad commentary on these times that commonsense medical guidance has been rebuffed by so many. A state as influential as Georgia should be pointing the way for the nation – not limping along with some 60 percent of our population not fully vaccinated.
We should do better. We should put the ethical watchword of being each other’s keeper into practice – and get vaccinated.
Americans have done it before with other outbreaks. Stepping forward for vaccinations helped eradicate smallpox and two forms of polio, saving lives and limbs of many. And those are just two examples.
» Opinion: Now, more than ever, please go get vaccinated
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It’s fair to consider potential risks of the COVID-19 vaccines. They’re new, some have encountered problems, and serious side effects have surfaced in a very small percentage of people inoculated.
It’s reassuring, though, that the CDC notes that the vaccine program is “under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history.”
Again, the potentially life-saving benefits seem to far outweigh the remote risks.
And doubters should please consider this: Has the guidance from public health and responsible government leaders changed across this pandemic? Yes, it has – much as the coronavirus itself has mutated in its quest for new victims.
A physician and infectious disease expert wrote on these pages Friday that, “The shifting recommendations don’t mean that the old ones were wrong, necessarily, only that conditions have changed. The bottom line? Masks do help cut down on coronavirus transmission, but it’s still vaccines that offer the best protection.”
The scientific and medical community, like all of us, is learning – and adapting – as we go along. That means applying the knowledge best available at the moment, and revising quickly as our experience evolves.
» Opinion: ‘Breakthrough’ COVID patient and Dr.: Get the vaccine
Plainly put, that’s called doing the best we can with what we have. And keeping faith with the science and medical professionals scrambling to defeat this plague.
Being inoculated and observing other prudent precautions like wearing masks as recommended by public health authorities has benefits outside our own bodies, too.
Exercising reasonable care while in public helps protect others, especially the most-vulnerable, including children too young to be vaccinated and others otherwise at higher risk to contract COVID-19 or ineligible for the vaccine.
Their risk should not be worsened by our willful inaction.
It’s said by some that declining vaccination is a personal choice. We’d suggest that Americans in past health crises made a personal choice, too – to try and protect each other.
The Editorial Board
