One of the best lines from the movie, The Devil Wears Prada back in 2006 was when the editor (Meryl Streep) of a magazine calls a coughing and sneezing subordinate, “An incubus of a viral plague.” Fast forward 15 years later, and the classicly memorable, albeit caustic zinger accurately describes the 100 million or so Americans that refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccinations.
With COVID-19 infection rates spiraling out of control across the country, including here in New Jersey, I continue to be amazed and disgusted when I listen to people’s hesitancy or outright refusal to take any of the COVID-19 vaccinations. I smirk, grimace, sneer, and bite my tongue to the point that my face hurts when I hear the excuses people spout about COVID-19 vaccinations!
Here are some funniest, most outrageous, and downright embarrassing, and disgraceful falsehoods people have shared with me throughout the past year or so. One woman said, “I don’t want to get vaccinated because I’ve heard one of the side effects is that you can’t pregnant. I want to have children and the shot makes people sterile!” Another woman said she heard people might grow a third arm or leg a year or two after getting the shot. A man said the vaccines allow the government to track and monitor your activity. Someone else said her family is very religious and pray not to get the virus. The mother of three children said, “I just put it all in God’s hands. I won’t get the shots and neither will my kids.” A co-worker said she doesn’t have time to get the shot. “It takes too much time to schedule an appointment, go to the drug store and get the shot. I just don’t have the time.” She said this while on her way out to a bar with her friends.
As with most things these days, COVID-19 has become political. For example, most patients admitted to the hospital in recent weeks and months are unvaccinated folks that lean Red. A virus that has killed more than 624,000 people in the U.S. over the past year is more of a political issue than a deadly one, at least to some folks.
For those fully vaccinated people that regularly follow updates from the CDC, scientists, and other experts, the logic is simple–getting the COVID shot protects you from getting the virus. I wish people would put religious beliefs, feeble excuses, and political beliefs aside for once—follow the science, undeniable facts, and think about other people instead of just themselves.
Earlier this week, the White House recommends getting a booster shot—that will further protect you from the virus and variants. The booster shots will be available starting in September. I will get it. I won’t be an incubus–or should I say, a burden that unvaccinated folks continue to be to those of us that are vaccinated.