Let’s get back to living

So you’re on the fence on the COVID-19 vaccine.

I get it. I really do, for a lot of different reasons, but this is not the time to question science. There’s too many dead to cite personal liberties. We have to take this vaccine, if anything because it will prevent more Americans from dying.

Sadly, taking a vaccine, like any other nationwide issue, will be politicized and flooded with misinformation.

Misinformation causes confusion, turmoil and discourse, something we especially don’t need right now. People will die because they believe fabricated information about the virus or its vaccine that they saw on Facebook or heard from outlets under the guise of media.

Let me be clear: if an entity, politician or pundit tells you not to take the vaccine, it’s because they have ulterior motives and don’t care if you die. Collectively — including the media and the public — we have to hold anyone who tries to advance an agenda off of lies about the vaccine accountable.

This is different from a family member, friend or other normal person who questions the vaccine, because their concerns likely aren’t rooted in bad faith. The science behind their concerns is invalid and dangerous, but they naturally question the vaccine — which is unnatural — because they’re looking to protect themselves or their loved ones.

The only appropriate response to this, if you want to them to take the vaccine and potentially save their life and the lives of others, is to listen and respond with empathy.

Listening is not our strong suit, but it’s the only way we’re going to get enough Americans vaccinated so we can stop this thing from killing so many of us and we can get back to living again.

Telling them their concerns aren’t valid doesn’t work. When someone says, “I’m not taking this vaccine,” instead of dismissing them you should press them and ask, “Why not?”

Reasons vary. Some may cite lies they’ve been told. Others may have health conditions or have philosophical or religious beliefs that prevent them from taking any vaccine.

I especially sympathize with any minorities who question the vaccine as I’m well aware that they are discriminated against in normal health care and of the years the U.S. government spent violating natural law and performing cruel, sometimes lethal experiments on minorities, even after the establishment of the Nuremberg Code post-World War II.

Even though different vaccines are being used internationally and some are from other countries, any vaccine rollout can be seen as an extension of the U.S. government, especially when the federal government is taking credit for it. And minorities have a valid reason to question the federal government because it rarely has their best interests at heart.

Though it is impossible for me to fully understand their plight, I still advocate for everybody, including minorities, to take both shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine if and when they can do so. It is estimated that at least a majority of the country needs to be vaccinated in order for our lives to get back to some sort of normalcy, so it’s important to get as many as possible on board with this.

Before it could receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, this vaccine had to be tested on subjects of all different ages and races. The only populations generally excluded from preliminary studies of Pfizer’s vaccine are pregnant women and those younger than 16 years old.

Side effects have been minimal and akin to the shingles vaccine. Potential mild side effects are especially favorable to the chances of long-term lung damage from contracting COVID-19, not to mention its ability to cause serious illnesses or death.

Unlike a yearly flu shot, both Pfizer and Moderna’s treatments are mRNA vaccines, meaning the inoculation never enters an individual’s cells nor does it introduce the live virus into the body for it to build immunity. The Moderna vaccine has yet to receive FDA approval, but it will in the coming weeks.

Both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines are found to have been about 95% effective in clinical trials, but questions remain over whether a vaccinated person can still transmit the virus to others.

That’s why, unfortunately, this whole social distancing thing will continue for months, but the 2021 deaths and cases will decrease from what we’ve suffered this year, which is truly a miracle.

Many of the deaths — nearly 300,000 total in America this year — from COVID-19 were preventable. We can easily prevent anybody else from dying and get back to living again by taking this vaccine.