Doing the right thing

There is an old adage that the American people will always do the right thing — once all other options have been exhausted.

This has never been more true than during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when a large segment of the population seemingly had a death wish in the way they responded.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I wrote a column that I believe stands the test of time. In that column, I recommended that we listen to the doctors and the medical professionals, and not the politicians, to guide our actions.

Unfortunately, a large segment of the population opted for politics over medicine.

Doctors said it was worse than the flu. Politicians told us it was no worse than the flu. It turns out that the doctors were right and the politicians were wrong.

Doctors said it was real — politicians said it was a hoax. It turns out that the doctors were right and the politicians were wrong.

Doctors told us to mask and social distance. Politicians said it wasn’t a big deal. It turns out that the doctors were right and the politicians were wrong.

Some of the medical professionals made some erroneous calls at the beginning of the pandemic because of the unknown nature of the disease, but couldn’t hold a candle to the disinformation/propaganda machine spitting out alternate realities that too many people were willing to buy into, the result being a lot more death and sickness than there needed to be.

Now the medical community is urging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and again, about half the population of the country is saying “no.”

I do not understand why.

But the consequences are severe and the consequences are deadly. 

The longer we wait, the more opportunities there are for variants and mutations to develop.

Our failure to contain the outbreak at the beginning allowed it to spread unchecked. COVID-19 has killed more than four million people across the globe, including more than 620,000 Americans.

Our country has gone to war over a lot less.

So while I’m not particularly hopeful, if something written here can save one life, then I’ll deal with the fallout and put it out there.

Unless you have medical guidance to the contrary, you should go get vaccinated. It’s as simple as that.

Do it for yourself.

Do it for your family.

But do it.

If you don’t believe me, ask your doctor.

If you don’t believe that doctor, ask another one. I can guarantee you, with very minute exceptions, the advice you will receive is to get vaccinated.

There are people who spend their lives studying infectious diseases. Their advice: get vaccinated.

There are medical personnel working in COVID wards who have seen more death over the past 16 months than anyone ought to have to experience. Their advice: get vaccinated.

This is not political — it is medical. Please believe me on this. It is science.

Getting vaccinated is not a political act - it is a medical act.

For me, I will make my personal medical decisions based on the advice of people who study these things — not political and television hucksters who get paid a lot of money to say outrageous things.

But even some of them are starting to get the message.

Please — the only way we are ever going to be able to put this pandemic in the rearview mirror is to do the right thing and -— you guessed it — get vaccinated.