The Delta Variant’s Message to Vaccines: It’s Your Funeral

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The Delta variant is here. It is now responsible for the majority of COVID-19 infections in the United States and is leading to a rapid increase in cases, not only in red states like Arkansas, but in the true blue of New York City.

But while the Delta variant is much more contagious than the original strain or Alpha variant that first appeared in Britain and has shown a greater ability to infect vaccinated individuals, all vaccines approved for use in the US United have so far proven to be very effective. in the prevention of serious illness and death.

So it is understandably infuriating that much of the American right has decided that it is time to redouble its efforts to make opposition to vaccination a central front in our never-ending cultural war.

It’s maddening, but it is essential not to bite the hook. The fact that vaccines have become a focal point should be the final proof that the crop war is a self-contained process largely independent of substantive grievances. Republicans think the fighting is helping them politically overall, and I suspect they are right. But it’s not a war either side can actually win by fighting, even though individual politicians and media stars can advance their own fortunes. For the country as a whole, the only way to win is not to play.

With regard to the vaccination campaign, this therefore means ignoring anti-vaccination campaigns and focusing on actions that do not depend on the conviction of skeptics.

One of the most important things the federal government could do to promote greater use of vaccines is for the FDA to give them full approval. Not because it will convince hard-nosed hesitant – it is equally plausible that they will see the approval as proof that political interference precipitated the process – but because it will change the legal landscape for compulsory vaccination. In particular, it would allow the military to order vaccination of all serving in uniform, as they do with a host of other vaccines.

Making vaccination mandatory for all employees who work in healthcare settings like hospitals or nursing homes is also an obvious decision with potentially substantial public health benefits given the low use of vaccines in this sector. and the need to protect vulnerable patients – including the immunocompromised who cannot adequately benefit from vaccines. Such warrants could be imposed even without FDA approval, as evidenced by the failure of a lawsuit against the Houston Methodist Hospital by staff who did not comply with the hospital’s mandate. Resistance evaporated and compliance skyrocketed right after the chase failed.

Businesses vulnerable to disruption from COVID outbreaks also have reasons to demand vaccination, and the government is making it clear that they are free to do so. Broadway shows already require universal vaccination of actors and crew; we can expect movie sets to follow. From auto assembly lines to public schools to meat packing plants, managers should see the risk that a COVID outbreak would pose to their ability to operate efficiently and act accordingly, especially if insurers start charging. higher rates or to refuse to provide certain types of coverage to do not have a mandate in place.

None of this requires harassing, or even persuasion – which is good, as these strategies prove to be ineffective. On this point, I think the powers that be should look at themselves in the mirror and recognize that their persuasive capacity is clearly limited. While they deserve some of the blame for their powerlessness – as right-wing critics never tire of litanizing – distrust of authority is also part of human nature, and American nature in particular. . It’s something we have to live with, not contradict.

So I think it’s up to these same authorities to start taking a different approach in their public statements, which are less pleading and more factual. Vaccines are safe and save lives, and so in areas where the government has direct authority and a mission that depends on health, they will enforce vaccination. In addition, where there are still barriers to access, they will remove or bypass them, so that no one gets sick for lack of a vaccine they were ready to take. I think the Biden administration’s proposal to go door-to-door to give vaccines for free to anyone who wants them is a great idea, long overdue.

But if particular states and localities want to reject this aid, they should be free to do so – and Biden should say so. The very existence of vaccines in sufficient quantity to give an injection to all those who want them changes the moral calculation and makes less and less reasonable the assertion that too many innocent people are in danger to leave the freedom to others. ‘be stupid.

So if Tennessee wants to drop underage immunizations for fear that some parents will be upset, that’s their prerogative – or it’s an issue the citizens of Tennessee need to address by replacing their government. This is what it means to be a democracy. Public health is a matter of public responsibility, but particular communities and certainly private citizens remain free to take charge of their lives. Indeed, this freedom not to be vaccinated is perfectly parallel to the freedom of the business owner to force his employees to be vaccinated: each one makes the decision which reflects their own assessment of their interests and values.

We must not respect the decisions of others, but we must respect their right to make them. That’s why when someone does something that we think is blatantly stupid, we say it’s your funeral.

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