I won’t take the COVID-19 vaccine!

Recently, I faced 3 patients who had chosen not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Interestingly, each had a different reason underlying their hesitancy.

The first patient gave an adamant refusal that there is no way he would ever submit to the vaccine. He didn’t trust the government. The second patient offered the canard that the approval process was rushed. The third patient had simply procrastinated. Her family members had all been vaccinated and she has received many other vaccinations. She was simply perched on the fence and hadn’t moved.

I offered counsel to Patients #2 and #3 as I felt there was a chance I might have impact with them. I hope that I did.

Stop Vaccine Tyranny!

The walls are closing in on the unvaccinated. With the recent formal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Pfizer vaccine, and the increasing number of businesses, organizations and venues that will only admit the vaccinated, the vast space that the unvaccinated have inhabited is fast shrinking. Will the unvaccinated be able to function if they cannot attend a concert, visit a museum, dine at a restaurant, take ground or air transportation, attend theater or even their place of employment?

Some will submit to the vaccine because rising inconveniences would be unbearable. Others may belatedly decide on the merits that the vaccines make sense. And yes, there will be some diehards who will continue to reject reason and science. For them, rolling up their sleeves or donning a mask is to surrender. We saw during Hurricane Ida, as we do in all prior deadly storms, when some folks reject all of the repeated dire warnings to evacuate and hunker down instead.

It’s hard to understand how some folks place themselves in avoidable danger just to prove a point. I have a different understanding of what they are actually proving to the rest of us.

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