The White House announced Monday that 70% of eligible Americans have received at least one shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Which is good!
Also on Monday a new Monmouth University national poll came out that showed 31% of Republicans saying they will likely never get the vaccine. Never. As in not ever.
Which is bad. Really, really bad.
And you should keep that 31% number top of mind when you read things like this on President Joe Biden’s plans for the week:
“The President has multiple events focused on the nationwide, and global, effort to vaccinate more people and combat the spread of variants, an opportunity to reset the administration’s messaging after a series of announcements last week left many Americans confused about the state of the virus.”
Because never means never, it would appear as though 3 in 10 Republicans are simply not even open to persuasion on getting the vaccine. They aren’t waiting for more information. Or for better incentives. They simply refuse to get the vaccine under any and all circumstances.
Why? Well, the poll didn’t ask. According to anecdotes within that 31%, however, at least some of them aren’t getting the vaccine to “own the libs.”
This is, of course, ridiculous. Mostly because the Covid-19 vaccines are remarkably effective at keeping you from being hospitalized or dying from the virulent Delta strain that is currently spreading across America.
But even if you grant the idea that someone doesn’t need to be vaccinated because they have the freedom to make bad choices, the fact remains that their choice not to be vaccinated affects a lot of people.
Because in order to be relatively free of this coronavirus nightmare, we need to reach herd immunity, meaning that future strains of the virus can’t rage through the population – as Delta is doing right now – because enough of us have the antibodies to stop it in its tracks.
Which keeps the immunocompromised – and others unable to get the vaccine – safe.
The Point: The selfish acts of some – and the utter failure to acknowledge we are ALL interconnected when it comes to fighting this deadly virus – will ensure it continues to hospitalize and kill our fellow Americans far longer than it should.
