As a sort of pre-requisite, I feel like I need to say that I’m no anti-vaxxer. Before a trip to the Caribbean a couple of years a go, I got over $1,000 of shots, including a rabies vaccine (a rabid bite is almost surely a death sentence without it). When it came time to make the decision to sign up for my COVID vaccine, I took out a pencil and paper and made a list of pros and cons. Truth be told, there was almost as many cons as there were pros, at least for me.
And what seems to be forgotten here in the era of “vaxxies” is that vaccination is a personal choice. The lengths that some people, and organizations, go to to make it next to impossible to not be vaccinated needs to stop.
Camosun’s choice to tell students that vaccine info is their personal and sensitive medical information was the right one, but that message gets a bit foggy viewed next to Camosun’s recent Instagram post showing the college’s vice president of student experience with a vaccine needle in her arm.
The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) entering vaccinated students into a contest for prizes leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and the CCSS certainly isn’t the only post-seccondary-related organization doing this.
People seem to be utterly unquestioning of strangeness when looking at the prospect of normalcy. Vaccination is such an incredibly personal choice and no one should be made to feel that their choice is at all wrong. Do you want to live in a society with mandatory vaccinations? Maybe you do, and by all means, I would be interested to have a conversation with you—one based on science, politics, religion, economics, philosophy, and all the other things that keep the wheels of society turning—to find out more. We need to listen, to communicate kindly, and to listen some more.
Then we need to listen some more. Because we’ve stopped doing that.
Just make sure you’ve thought about why you have the beliefs you do. That’s all I ask during this entire flaring, fuming—sometimes ridiculous—debate. It’s a debate that has severed friendships and created tensions in marriages, workplaces, and playgrounds. It’s a debate because vaccines are a choice. It’s a debate because we are all so desperate to get back to normal. But let’s not put each other through the wringer any more than we already have been over the past year and a half.
Your vaccination status is none of my business, and mine is none of your business. As well-intentioned as most of us are, it feels like that’s been forgotten when friends, colleagues, and institutions shove their choices—on both sides of this argument—in your face for the thousandth time.
Now, if the reason for institutions and for people doing this is that there are fears that not enough people will be vaccinated, let’s talk about that. There is fear everywhere, and the fear is unprecedented, because social media didn’t exist in the era of the Spanish Flu. How do we scale back that fear? As populations continue to rapidly increase, it makes sense that the occurrence of disease will as well, and what this means for us in the long term remains to be seen. Can our healthcare system handle the next new virus or is it time to start putting serious thought into expanding the system?
Yes, the vaccine is a vital step in getting back to normal, so if you want to take it, take it. Just remember, it’s no one’s business but your own.
…this is really vague-bloggy.
Like literally this reads like something that comes across blogging websites and cause discourse on being way too vague and calling out everyone and being passive aggressive.
There are so many threads opened with no follow up.
I get that some of those threads are highly personal, but you opened up those threads to begin with.
In most/nearly all/if not all cases, if you *can* get the vaccine, then you *should* to prevent serious consequences and death from the virus.
My lungs are already horrible, so if I were to get it there’s a very high chance I’d be on oxygen for the rest of my life in a best case scenario. There’s a survival rate, but there’s also a very high chance of being permanently changed… and not in a good way. Nothing against people who need extra help to breathe daily, but why create entire populations when it’s preventable. Oxygen is precious and it would be better to not overburden the medical system. Especially right now.
I’m excited to get my first bit of protection soon, as I’m not “extremely clinically vulnerable” enough to go earlier. And I get that. Other people are more vulnerable based on their age. And even though vaccinations are a traumatic experience for me, I go through it because it is ultimately for my own good and helps protect others by helping keep herd immunity. I couldn’t be so selfish as to refuse just because I cannot deal with needles.
When there are a lot of unvaccinated people, there’s a higher risk of mutation. That puts me and everyone else at a higher risk. The more mutations occur the more risk everyone is at. It could mutate to be not as protected from by the vaccine.
The college is funded from the province and if the province recommends vaccination then the college should recommend vaccination too.
It’s not like they’re asking for our vax cards at the entrances.
It’s about the visibility. It’s about providing information.
As for risks?
I drive. It’s far more dangerous to drive than it is to accept this vaccine.
I take other medication that have a laundry list of side effects that is “for my own good”. And it is.
And as for telling someone their choice is wrong.
I am continually told that my very existence is wrong in so many different ways. If we can’t say someone’s Choice is wrong it’s certainly wrong to say that about Existences too.
Perhaps Americans are just too individualistic for their own good.
If we can’t care about others – whether that means they have legitimate and genuine reasons not to get vaccinated (not to be confused with “valid” reasons to be upheld in vailidity of feeling but ultimately should still get it), or caring enough to help make a very strong herd of immune/immunized people, what should we care for?
Totally get you don’t want to share your list – “it’s personal!”
But there many of cans of worms you opened without going into them with responsibility owed from opening up.
When dealing with virus like this – one that can and will shut down world – it is more civic duty unless allergic or other serious medical condition prevent partaking. If you cannot perform civic duty perhaps it is not so good to be part of society.
When travelling I take vaccines to be permitted in. When in Canada I take vaccines that are for good of society as suggested.
Yes making decision is good. But when decision can make others very sick is not so hard a decision. I want normal again too. Many people need say yes to get that.
“ The lengths that some people, and organizations, go to to make it next to impossible to not be vaccinated needs to stop.” As someone that has an anti-vaxxer in the family, it truly is not that difficult to refuse to vaccinate.
I am extremely lucky that my parents chose not to listen to this family member and opted to vaccinate me.
Encouraging people to get vaccinated is a good thing, especially if we’re pushing to “get back to normal.”
The only thing that Instagram post did was not have a way of opting to not see the needle.
Some people like me may have phobias or are triggered by seeing needles which makes navigating social media an absolute horrid experience in general right now.
When I get the poke I’m going to be out of it due to having to have a needle. I’m going to be useless until I can “snap back into it” again after a few days or so. It’s still something I will do because it’s so important.
It’s so important to protect ourselves and other people by getting the vaccine unless there’s a major medical issue that prevents us from getting it.
This article divides us at a time when we need to be connected. This article focuses on one view at a time when they all matter and need to be discussed. This article does not offer any concrete detail (what the pros and cons were). It does not tell the full story.
However, to say free will only exists up to a point is true. To say not getting vaccinated is harming others is, well, that’s just not scientifically correct considering getting vaccinated protects you by over 90 percent. There are many variables such as the ability to mask, wash hands, stay apart, not leave the house, that need to be evaluated on a case by case basis before we can say not getting vaccinated is irresponsible. It’s clear this writer does not want to share personal details, which is fundamentally flawed in an opinion of this nature, but I understand it. I just puzzles me. Not getting vaccinated isn’t l irresponsible, it just tells me that you choose to ignore probability and statistics and science, however all this writer is saying is to make sure it’s your choice in a time of severe public push for obvious reasons. Reminding people to reflect= not a bad thing.
“ It’s clear this writer does not want to share personal details, which is fundamentally flawed in an opinion of this nature, but I understand it.”
EXACTLY THIS
TOO MANY BROAD STATEMENTS AND NOT ENOUGH DETAIL
Adding on but to lazy to make a new comment:
There’s a certain care of duty to do what you can to protect the people you live around if you live in a society. If we’re able to vax then we should for our and everyone’s safety. And while it’s a choice, it’s also a choice to not go completely off the grid to not possibly endanger other people ever.
If you’re not part of the herd, I guess you get a pass on herd immunity.
It’s a balance of you have the right to choose but a responsibility to do no harm.
While yes, we should examine our healthcare system and it’s ability to care for everybody, especially when large scale events like this happen, what will help most right now is everybody that can getting at the very least the initial vaccination set and then if there are boosters re-examine your choices.
My question is why every single organization and person has suddenly gone “oh its ok to post a full actual needle in a photo” without at least a warning photo telling you to swipe right to see the actual photo. It used to be that people would warn for gore, sexual content, and common phobias like that…
It may not be our business, but it’s also no business what other people post in encouragement to help get to the point where we could have herd immunity.
When denying a vaccine leads to diseases running rampant and putting EVERYONE at risk, it is very important that everyone who can get one does get one.
Especially in times when they are still saying they are opening up for in person in the fall when hardly any students will be fully vaccinated and only have partial protection from severe complications or death, not from catching the disease, from the first dose of their vaccination, it’s irresponsible and dare I say reprehensible to put out things that could be construed in such a way that makes it more of a choice.
In the name of public health, and while there is always free will, is there also consciousness about other people when given such choice?
Free will is important yes, but only so far as you’re not harming other people.
And if you’re able to get the vaccination and don’t, you are harming other people.
What’s the issue with Camosun’s Instagram post with the VP of student experience getting jabbed? As a public college, they should be reinforcing the need of getting vaccinated in order to slow the spread of covid-19. It’s not foggy. They encourage you to do so but they don’t want to know if you actually did.
What is foggy is you spending $1000 on vaccines to travel to the Caribbean but questioning the need of getting vaccinated now. So you agree with restrictions to travelers going to the Caribbean who were not vaccinated but you don’t agree with Camosun encouraging people to do so or restrictions in your own country? It’s not like they’re restricting people to attend classes or entering the country, like the country you were traveling to.
Curious what were the cons of getting a covid-19 vaccine. Birth control pills have a higher hate of thrombosis cases related to them than the vaccines we have available, but I don’t expect you to be against birth control pills either.
I don’t believe institutions act based on fear. It’s more than clear by now that we’ll only get back to normal, as you said, when most of us are vaccinated. So why wouldn’t an institution like Camosun or any other post-secondary institution encourage their students to do so?
Could you share with us, readers, what were the cons of getting a covid-19 vaccine?
Cheers