I am very disturbed about the COVID-19 mis-information pandemic.
Last night I participated in an internet radio program
where I was a panelist. The program originates in Chester. I won’t mention the
internet network, The focus of the program was COVID-19 vaccination and engaging
in a conversation to present facts and dis-spell misinformation. I was the
healthcare professional on the panel, joined by 3 others: 1 gentleman who is unvaccinated
and intends to remain so, another who was recently vaccinated because of
employer mandates and otherwise would have remained unvaccinated, and the
moderator.
The 2 other panelists explained their perspectives on the vaccination.
Statements of “it came out too soon”, “ its my own perogative”, “there are many
disconnects for me”., were made. In my response I addressed each of their
concerns with facts because,… well because that’s my job. I’m a teacher and I
present my audiences with facts, then we discuss, and hopefully we all learn
something.
But here’s the thing: They weren’t interested in facts. And
as the discussion progressed, when presented with numerical facts, one panelist
left the call, and toward the end of the discussion, when asked if he had
learned anything from the discussion, he remaining panelist responded that he
didn’t think there was anything he could learn further, that his decision not
to be vaccinated was firm, and that he’s rather take his changes with the virus.
He concluded by stating “:When its my time to go, its my time to go, and I’m
good with that”
Amazing!!!
My disturbance arises from two thoughts,.. no,.. three
thoughts.
One. That many of us even though
we profess to being open to discussion, simply aren’t.. Two. Because of number
one, we’d rather stay in our ignorance. And three.,, because of numbers
one and two, it seems to me that we enjoy perpetuating our victimhood.
These are sad and disturbing thoughts, but I can’t conclude
otherwise, when we seem not to want to abide by the knowledge of people who
actually are well acquainted with facts.
Several months ago, I remember my surprise the first time I
mentioned mRNA to an audience of about 6 people who were vaccination hesitant,
thinking that surely this was a familiar term. It wasn’t! To anybody!.
But they were very familiar with the myth that there is a chip in the vaccination,
or that there’s a government conspiracy at work.
Now, I understand the mis-trust issue. People of color have
been treated with disdain by the medical establishment for the last 400 years.
And there’s been consequential great suffering. But there comes a time when we
have to find ways to acknowledge the past while moving to levels beyond it. If we don’t people of color will continue to
die in disproportionate numbers.
Where COVID-19 is concerned, people of color are twice as
likely to die or be hospitalized than Caucasians. But this statistic is only an
add-on to thousands that are killed through neighborhood violence across the
country annually. The COVID-statistic only supplements the fact that people of
color have higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, cancers and respiratory
disease than Caucasians. It is absolutely true that bodies of color have been inhumanely
traumatized over the centuries to contribute to these disparities. But COVID-19
is another avenue for this trauma to affect communities of color. Its become
part of the conspiracy of apathy and neglect. Yet we’re letting it happen.
I know people are frustrated. I know people are tired of talking
about COVID. But the moment we stop talking about it and paying heed to its
seriousness, is the moment COVID wins.
In April of last year, the Washington Post reported an
update on the attitudes surviving family members of the men who were victimized
by the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment. In essence the article said that members
of these men’s families are tired of their ancestors being used as an excuse
not to be vaccinated. In fact, when the vaccine was introduced, they were among
the first in line. This is a rich assertion. They point to the irony that when penicillin
was introduced, and we wanted a cure, it was withheld from the men by the
government. Now, the remedy is being given to all of us, and we’re rejecting
it.
But there’s more. The greatness of ancestral bodily sacrifice
so that current generations can fully participate in societal--.and medical.--progress,
can’t be overstated. In this sacrifice, we’ve been prepared for this moment.
