Regarding Vaccination Mandates

Ok, so I admittedly don’t watch the news much, but I know from other people that COVID vaccinations are/will be mandatory for healthcare and EMS workers, among others. I personally have been vaccinated recently, but originally I was planning on not getting it, even though I am a firefighter. I chose to get it because I wouldn’t be able to attend certain functions that were important to me. That was my choice, not a mandate, and I wasn’t forced into it. If venues or restaurants want to choose to not let unvaccinated patrons in, then that is their choice as a private establishment. Just my opinion.

What I cannot fathom is the vaccination mandate for first responders and healthcare workers. I have a good friend who’s an experienced and active EMT in another town that has been told to get vaccinated or he’ll lose his job. I can understand completely why some people don’t want to get it; it’s not tested long term and it doesn’t even seem to be reliably effective at this point. Yes many people have died from COVID, but also many people have died or had side effects from the vaccine. We are at a point now where a large majority has been vaccinated, and that was their choice, and it should be left at that. If some people, (especially people who are at a higher exposure rate like first responders), feel that an exposure is better than a questionable vaccine, who are we to judge them? That is their choice. Furthermore, we as a people, are in no position whatsoever to be harassing, eliminating or firing first responders and healthcare workers who are willing and able to work. Most of these people actually love what they do, and believe me, they aren’t in it for the money. These same people gave everything they could when we needed them most and some paid the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good. Our leaders need to step back and take a long hard look at what their priorities really need to be at this point in time. What is happening right now is unacceptable, and we are all going to pay the price for it, both now and in the future.

Knowing what is going on, makes me think of the line from the new movie Morbius: “How far are we allowed to go, to fix something that is broken? Until the remedy is worse than the disease.”

John D. Cummings
Rehoboth