It’s Only A Little Prick

It’s Only A Little Prick

– By Ed Kociela –

Haters gonna hate, even if it kills them.

That’s why you are likely to see a lot of criticism of President Joe Biden and his administration for falling 3 percent short of his goal of having the United States 70 percent vaccinated with at least one shot by the Fourth of July holiday.

The holiday has come and gone, of course, and we are about 7.4 million people short of the president’s goal.

To be honest, from the beginning, that number seemed a bit ambitious.

But, people and organizations stepped up, offering everything from major sports stadiums to free rides to vaccinate the public from COVID-19.

We saw the long lines of cars stacked up at our stadiums and arenas, saw the lines of people waiting patiently at their local clinics and hospitals, saw how drugstores, grocery stores, and just about any place where people congregate offer free space for the medical teams that came in to put shots in the arms of the public.

Still, we knew that there were some diehards among the MAGA crowd who sneered at the idea of taking the shots. Unfortunately, some of them will die very hard and unnecessary deaths because of their political bent and fealty to minds that refuse to budge, whether because of their politics or their lemming personalities.

It is no surprise then to see the current situation in Utah where a similar goal has fallen short and COVID cases and deaths are rising at an alarming rate. Other MAGA strongholds are also growing in the number of cases and deaths as things begin to open up and fewer masks are required nationwide.

It really is beyond simple science at this point, that it is perfectly clear that you are playing a high-risk game if you do not get vaccinated and refuse to wear a mask.

We have been through a pretty rough stretch, spending 2020 in isolation, for the most part, and changing our lives to avoid early death. The negatives that resulted in falling short of the goal included ignorance and conspiracy buffs who refused on the grounds that the government was shooting little chips into your body to keep track of you. Guess what, Q-Anon folks, you already carry a tracking device in your pocket. It is called a cellular phone and authorities, from local to federal levels, can ping it at any time and pinpoint your location. Your debit card and credit card? They lay out a very clean map of where you move about. And, you do it to yourself with your Facebook selfies and descriptions of the chicken fried steak you ordered at the local diner.

What the administration was hoping for was to develop what is called herd immunity. It didn’t expect such a large portion of the herd to make a right turn and veer away from vaccinations, but that is precisely what happened, whether through the disbelievers or those who have avoided getting poked just to make the administration look bad. I would say you get what you deserve except for the fact that your refusal to be inoculated puts innocent people at risk. That would include your mom, dad, siblings, offspring, friends, and neighbors – the people most important in your life. And, guess what, there is a huge increase in cases being diagnosed among those between the ages of 20 and 30.

During his briefing last Thursday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said “93 percent of (COVID) hospitalizations (in the state) have been amongst unvaccinated people, and 95 percent of deaths were among unvaccinated people. What I’m here to say is that 95 percent of you don’t have to die and 95 percent of you don’t have to be hospitalized and go through that incredible pain. Please, please, please don’t make it worse.”

He went on to urge all Utahns to roll up their sleeves and take their medicine. It likely will bring out the haters from the MAGA crowd who also are probably not too happy that the governor also recently offered a proclamation supporting LGBTQ Pride month. But, hey, that’s how Utah rolls.

Look, I understand that you may not like how the election went. We weren’t too happy after 2016, but we weren’t stupid enough to put our lives on the line in the face of a deadly pandemic. We didn’t like your guy. We probably disliked him more than you dislike Joe Biden, but we didn’t play Truth or Dare with death.

I don’t want to go back into quarantine status. It sucked, to be frank. Not that I particularly missed the gatherings and crowds, I just don’t like being told what to do. Every now and then, however, you have to put that aside and do what is best not only for yourself, but for the good of your community, and like it or not, we are, indeed, a part of the global community.

Besides the widespread access to vaccinations, some states and communities have offered incentives to be vaccinated ranging from free beer, baseball tickets, lotteries, and doughnuts to free reefer in Washington, where recreational marijuana is legal. The numbers are still not where they should be. If reefer, beer, doughnuts, and money aren’t enough to get people out for their vaccinations perhaps the only best alternative is to go door-to-door, which would be totally impractical from an administrative level to application.

People respond best to word-of-mouth suggestions, are more likely to participate as a result of peer pressure, are influenced by more than clever enticements, even when their lives may be on the line.

Unfortunately, the discussion of the COVID vaccine is such a hot-button issue that people are afraid to initiate the conversation.

I’m not.

I’ve had my full vaccination. So has my wife. So have almost all of my friends and family. We were all influenced by science and that driving need for self-preservation and not swayed by those who preach the Big Lie or have a score to settle because they came up losers.

Look, if you want a shot, there truly is a way to get it.

Go to your clinic.

Go to a local pharmacy.

Go to one of the places that have opened their doors to doctors and nurses who are waiting to help wipe this thing from the Earth.

Don’t be stupid.

Don’t let ignorance and arrogance supplement good reason.

After all, it’s only a little prick.

And, it doesn’t hurt that much.

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