| Coronavirus

A Brief Message to the American Anti-vaxxer

The massive COVID-19 death toll is a tragedy, and it is one that could have been avoided. As a county, we can look to our past to see how patriotism and vaccines go hand in hand.

By Nicholas Just, 4 October, 2021

By the time the COVID-19 virus reached the United States in early 2020, it had already been responsible for the deaths of about 200 people. Since then, as of the writing of this article, 669,000 Americans have died. America of all countries has the highest COVID death toll of any country, with around 15 out of every 100 people that died from COVID being an American. Yes, America accounts for at least 15% percent of COVID deaths. And yet, many Americans deny the vaccine due to their own unproven superstitions. 

It is ultimately useless to argue about the vaccine, since there is little to no proof of the vaccine’s ill side effects. Most Americans have watched loved ones pass because of this virus still some find a way to deny its validity, and it is estimated that by 2022, you will have personally known 3 people that died of COVID.

Those that remember the September Eleventh attacks will recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the terrorist attacks. The tragedy of 9/11 shook the entire world. It is remembered in our collective memory as one of the saddest days in United States history for the men and women that died in those attacks.

American men and women were then inspired to sacrifice their own life, fighting in memory of those who died in the September Eleventh attacks. It is safe to say that, since then, Americans have become much less patriotic. When hundreds of Americans die every day, many of us will refuse to be vaccinated in order to save our fellow countrymen. Despite your reasoning for why you might be personally hesitant to take the vaccine, it is a sacrifice that you must make for your fellow citizens. You should do this with the lives of those you may be saving in mind.

Many people who are anti-vaxx are unfazed by the millions killed; they are completely unsympathetic. This is where the real controversy exists, because since the beginning of the pandemic there have been people championing a policy known as herd immunity. For the uninformed, herd immunity proposes that once a certain percentage of the population is protected against a certain disease, it cannot spread. 

While this is true, one must also understand that when it is practiced around two thirds of the practicing population dies (source). Herd immunity has been the do-nothing solution to COVID-19 for many anti-vaxxers.Recent vaccine mandates put on by the Biden administration, however, have forced their hand. Americans are now, in this case, no longer given the freedom to choose whether we personally want the vaccine or not. Obviously, our freedom to do so is inherently American, so this must be wrong, right? Wouldn't the founders of America be ashamed to see this? 

Well, not exactly. A vaccine mandate was ordered by George Washington, and  a military inoculation mandate was put into effect among the revolutionary soldiers in the year 1777. Not dissimilar to Biden’s military mandate, you could not be exempt from the vaccine.

It was absolutely mandatory, and after the entire military was inoculated, they went on to win the Revolutionary War of Independence. Granted, the vaccine was not the ultimate reason the revolution was victorious, but at one point among the Continental regulars in the American Revolution, 90 percent of deaths were caused by disease, so the smallpox vaccine was definitely a factor in the American victory.

Herd immunity is at work slowly killing off millions of practicing the outdated policy. Many studies such as this one show the difference in hospitalization between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. 

Look at how herd immunity is working for those who choose to embrace it. Simply put, those that are unvaccinated are more likely to get the virus and die. The more people who are not vaccinated, the more people die, and the more likely we see further mutations. Patriots, will get vaccinated.

Nicholas Just is an author of and co-founder of Young Patriots Magazine.