recently president biden announced that the labor department of the federal government would begin requiring that all employees of businesses in which one hundred or more workers are employed must be vaccinated against covid-19 or undergo weekly covid testing. many such employers already require their employees to be vaccinated as a condition of their continuing employment. while on the face of it, this may seem to be governmental intrusion into the lives of millions of individuals, the underlying reasoning is that employees who are unvaccinated may easily spread the virus to other employees who must work in close proximity to the unvaccinated. these employees have no choice if they wish to continue their employment, so being forced to work alongside unvaccinated fellow workers is a threat to everyone's health. when someone catches the virus at work, they then take it home to their families, further accelerating the spread of the virus. a course of action like the one the biden administration is taking is a better alternative than once more shutting down the economy in an enforced quarantine for everyone.
as we think about the continued refusal of many to take a vaccine that has been proven to be safe and effective, a mandate to be vaccinated is necessary. if we cannot stop the spread and continued mutation of this virus into increasingly virulent forms, we cannot function as a society. even those who have been vaccinated will be susceptible to infection if a vaccine-resistant strain of the virus emerges, as it surely will unless most people join the ranks of the vaccinated. nearly universal vaccination for other diseases is required in this country. why should covid-19 be any different?
i recently read a report about a county in a neighboring state in which the vast majority of its residents have refused the vaccine. though the residents are watching as friends and loved ones succumb to the virus, many of them dying or suffering long-term effects, most are still suspicious of the vaccine. practices to diminish the spread of infection, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, are ridiculed. many of those who have been vaccinated have done so secretly so that their neighbors are unaware of their status because it is socially unacceptable in this small county to take the vaccine. those interviewed were wary of the federal government and its motives in urging people to take the vaccine. some said that the development had deliberately been slowed in order to insure the defeat of donald trump in the last election, and, therefore, to take the vaccine is to be pro-biden. against the backdrop of thinking such as this, it seems the only way to increase the rate of vaccination is to adopt a mandate such as the one the president announced.
another argument that the anti-vaccine proponents have put forward is the fatalist proposition that when "god calls your number", you will die, regardless of the cause. "you have to die of something," these folks say, so, knowing as "christians" that they will go to a better place when they die, they claim to have nothing to fear if and when they catch covid. "god" will protect them. if "god" does not keep them safe from infection, then it is "god's" will that they catch the vaccine. if they die from it, that, too, is "god's" will. God deliver us from such "god-fearing" christians.
may we act in our own self-interest and that of those around us by being immunized against covid-19. may we put aside faulty reasoning and suspicions of the government's intentions and listen to medical experts and scientists. may we understand that part of living in a free society is feeling responsible for the well-being of all those in the society. instead of opposing sensible regulations intended to keep us all safe, may we support those who are acting in all of our best interests. shalom.
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