The editorial that follows is the official view of The Examiner.
– Don J. Dodd, Publisher and CEO
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Two people with one giving the other a vaccination. One is wearing a blue shirt and the other has medical gloves and is holding a vaccine.
It’s time for a reality check for many people who have refused, or been apathetic about, getting the COVID-19 vaccine. To get or not to get isn’t just a question of personal responsibility and safety, it’s one of compassion and empathy. Simply put, do I care enough for my fellow man to do whatever I can to avoid giving them a deadly disease?
Despite what social media “doctors” spew unfettered through persons too obtuse to fact-check, there isn’t even a question of whether the vaccine works. There is only one truth –the science of vaccination. They work.
Have there been negative reactions? Yes. Just as there are with all medications. Far worse, however, are the well-documented examples of what can happen to the unvaccinated masses that contract the disease, like dying in a hospital on a breathing tube with one, two or no family members in the room.
The simple acts of getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in crowded spaces where vaccination statuses are unknown shows others that you care for their wellbeing, that you know there’s an invisible, airborne killer on the loose, and you’ve taken precautions to slow the death toll that’s already surpassed 729,000 deaths. That’s approximately 167,000 more deaths than the United States suffered in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined.
The Golden Triangle lags well behind the rest of the state when it comes to our population’s vaccination percentage. While 73% of the state is fully vaccinated, Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties sit at 51%, 38% and 40%, respectively. Essentially, more than half the residents in Southeast Texas have decided against taking a simple, life-saving measure. They have decided they know more than doctors, than scientists, than actual professionals in the medical field that have begged and pleaded for self-serving ideologies against “herd immunity” and community survival to die – instead of our friends, family and neighbors taking the fall.
Unfortunately, exploring Google and Facebook for vaccine issues doesn’t constitute “doing your own research.” Actual research is conducted by scientists and experts, whose data and experimentation can be evaluated and replicated by other professionals in other lab settings. Those real scientists, doctors and experts agree: Vaccination is the best tool we have to fight this deadly pandemic.
Vaccinations save lives. Vaccinations save our holiday celebrations. And vaccinations save businesses, which, in turn, saves families who rely on the businesses for a way of life.
This is helping to make our lives normal. People are circulating false quotes from supposed experts, taken out of context, posted on social media – in essence, killing people as a result.
As we enter the holiday season, let the doctors be doctors – and give the gift of not giving someone COVID, or of your family not mourning your ventilated or deceased corpse. Get the vaccine.
The fact that vaccines have increased while hospitalizations have dropped significantly is not Facebook facts – it’s real facts.
The evidence is clear. Millions of people have been vaccinated – and millions more will be. I took my own parents, who are in their 80s, to get vaccinated – twice. And, as soon as I can, I will bring them in for the booster.