127. The Great Divide Widens

With this wave of the covid—is it the third or fourth? —the divisions between those who believe that Masking, Distancing, and Vaccinations are effective deterrents against it, and those who label one or more of M, D, and V as “hoax,” “fake,” “untested,” and/or some sinister plot to take away personal freedom, have widened. 

Most doctors and scientists—and politicians and media leaders—implore us to get vaccinated, put our masks back on, and practice some measure of social distancing. A few with medical credentials, more politicians, and some who preach one form or another of religion, wellness, or politics, tell those of us in the MDV believer camp that we are deceived. That something nefarious is afoot. 

While sources I believe reliable count the number of covid cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as primarily occurring among the unvaccinated, the dying—who sometimes call for their children and grandchildren to please, please, get vaccinated—often assert their rights to personal choice to the very end. Personal choice at its extreme. 

A thousand gathered in Seattle yesterday in the name of personal freedom. The courthouse here in Enterprise had its own crowd of anti’s. 

Common sense and courtesy are diminishing as the divide widens. Yesterday I heard two new stories: Bill Gates has inserted something in the vaccine that will, given time, kill those of us who get vaccinated, thus promoting Gates’ primary goal of reducing world population in the cause of fighting climate change. The second new story I heard was that wearing masks might result in Black Lung disease—this far away from any coal mine. I admit that these stories probably come from the fringe; most anti’s are people who have sincere religious beliefs and health concerns. But it demonstrates the depth of the chasm, as do callers from “my side” who advocate not insuring or admitting the unvaccinated to hospitals, wishing severe illness or even death on them.

Humbly, I wear my mask at work at the Josephy Center, where we ask everyone who works and visits to do so. I’ve stopped going into stores that don’t. These things I can control. 

What worries me most—the health of our health care systems—I have no control over. And our hospital and clinics, like most across the state, are operating at full, at the edge of triaging patients. And here too the health care workers are divided, with some small minority insisting that they will not be vaccinated. 

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