CommentsTHE DOCTOR IS IN--Vaccines aren't perfect, and the requirement of getting vaccinated does not exist in a free society.
That said, it is and will always be the right for private entities such as airlines, cruise ships and even supermarkets to deny entrance to those who--in the months and years to come--access if one is not vaccinated.
Furthermore, the concept of "vaccine passports", as much as they are rather repugnant in a free society, makes some sense as much as it does to the requirement of paying taxes...and it similarly makes sense to require ID to vote in all future elections (we are doing it at the Neighborhood Council level, so why not throughout the nation?).
So, unless we want to wear masks and do the social distancing for the rest of our lives, no physician worth his/her salt will denigrate the need to be vaccinated, shortcomings or no:
1) Hence the shocking discovery in Israel, a nation that is almost 100% vaccinated with those vaccines out there, that the South African variant is particularly adept at bypassing and "breaking through" the Pfizer vaccine is sobering, indeed.
2) Yet the COVID cases reported in Texas are plummeting after Texas Governor Abbott repealed the mask mandate.
3) Getting vaccinated is indeed a miserable experience for some, yet catching COVID-19 is worse, as evidenced by those health care workers suffering significant functional symptoms eight months after catching it, and to the extent that it affected their work, social, and home life.
4) Hence the need to NOT discount what the hell might have happened in a virology lab outside of Wuhan, China.
5) This COVID-19 virus is particularly adept at mutating at a rate that is faster than we can vaccinate the world, and the need to create more adaptable vaccinations is both sobering and necessary. Don't be surprised if booster updates are needed within the next 6-12 months...if those boosters are even available or created.
The questions of whether we can keep up with this virus are real and necessary for debate.
Yet the more we observe our vaccinated population, and the percentage of those in a given society who is vaccinated, it's evident that both those vaccinated and those NOT vaccinated improves as more undergo the vaccination process...and it's also evident that SEVERE cases of COVID-19 go down.
It might be inevitable that increasing numbers of Americans will, vaccinated or not, get a new variant of COVID-19...but the likelihood of getting SEVERE cases of COVID-19 appears to be decreased only by getting vaccinated.
I absolutely sympathize with those scared or hesitant to getting vaccinated, or those concerns about the experimental and/or unproven vaccines out there...but the numbers STILL favor the vaccination process--and both conservative and liberal Americans alike are getting vaccinated.
But the updates still are necessary--even if one is sick of Dr. Fauci pushing for "masks forever"--because the presumption that we've beaten this virus keeps being proven wrong.
But what is also necessary? Getting vaccinated as the best way to resume our lives.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He was termed out of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) twice after two stints as a Board member for 8-9 years and is also a Board member of the Westside Village Homeowners Association. He previously co-chaired the MVCC Outreach, Planning, and Transportation/Infrastructure Committees. He was previously co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, the grassroots Friends of the Green Line (which focused on a Green Line/LAX connection), and the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
-cw
