The COVID-19 vaccine: a shot that won't hit the target
By Auden Koetters, Copy Editor
Whether it be Achilles, Audie Murphy or Ant-Man, heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Heroes save us from the villains of the world, and serve as a beacon of hope in times shrouded by darkness. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is nothing more we need than a hero. Luckily, one has emerged. Strutting its needle legs and waving its plunger, the COVID-19 vaccine has surfaced as the latest contender. But will it be the one to finally defeat the villainous virus? The answer to this question is rather enigmatic for every hero has it’s sidekick and the vaccine’s sidekick is quite unreliable. Despite the eagerness of some Americans to be vaccinated, other Americans fear this inoculation will do more harm than good. Dana Ullman shares his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Although I'm 69 years old, I would probably actually prefer to get the real [COVID-19] then to get the [COVID-19] vaccine," Ullman, the founder of a national homeopathic research foundation based in Berkley, said in an interview with ABC news.
People like Ullman epitomize what will be the failure of the hero-sidekick team in the fight against COVID-19. According to a recent poll completed by the Pew Research Center, when asked if they would get a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 if it were available today, 51 percent of US adults say they would “definitely” or “probably” get vaccinated while 49 percent said they would not. Americans refuse to receive the vaccine on such doltish claims as it being a front to implant a tracking microchip into them, or declare that they do not want “unhealthy toxins” supposedly contained in the vaccine to enter their bodies. Such a view is quite hypocritical seeing as the same people making such senseless claims eat big macs, made of god-knows-what, while combing their chemically dyed hair into Make America Great Again hats. Unfortunately, the anti-vaccine sentiment was expressed long before COVID-19 and has been escalated in recent years by Republican Party heads. In March of 2014, former President Donald Trump released a tweet meant to discourage Americans from receiving vaccinations.
“Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn't feel good and changes - AUTISM. Many such cases,” Trump said on his twitter account prior to being banned.
As the daughter of a diehard liberal doctor, I cannot help but think such incompetence can only stem from idiocy. I find it funny to say that Trump tweeted such a statement during a potential measles outbreak—a disease which can be easily avoided with a mere vaccination. It is sad to say that politics play such a large role in public health, but unfortunately it is true. According to a survey completed by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 42 percent of Republicans said they would probably not or definitely not be vaccinated as compared with 12 percent of Democrats. In an interview with the New York Times, Elizabeth Graves, a proud Trump supporter, expresses her concern about the COVID-19 vaccine.
“There’s no quote “evidence” that there’s a microchip or that there's something nefarious about the whole thing. But I have a gut check about all of it, and the government pushing it, and they’re finding all these popular people to take the vaccine. And it’s weird, like why are we pushing it so hard?” Graves said.
To answer your question, Graves, they’re “pushing it so hard” because unless action is taken American society will crumble under the weight of COVID-19. One way to ensure the inoculation of all Americans, Democrat, Republican and anything in between, is to mandate the vaccine in America. If mandated by the government, it is possible the vaccine will be the knight in shining armor we all hoped for. Such a mandate is not out of the question. For instance, students are required to have certain vaccinations to attend schools and adults in many workplaces. Without these vaccinations, citizens are left at the mercy of microscopic devils. There is no better example of this than Afghanistan and Pakistan. When a propaganda video swept through these nations falsely claiming the polio vaccine harmed children, terrified parents began refusing to have their children inoculated. As a result, these two are the only remaining polio endemic countries in the world and affected individuals are stuck in a state of paralysis.
Like Batman and Robin, the COVID-19 vaccine needs the American people to vanquish the imminent threat posed by the virus. However, many Americans, stuck in their thoughtless and narcissistic ways, will not be the sidekick the vaccine needs. To safeguard the future of both Americans and America, it is necessary for the government to mandate the inoculation of all individuals. If not mandated, the vaccine we hoped to be Perseus will instead be Icarus, the son of a master craftsman who wished to escape his fate, but instead fell to his death.