I’ve watched people I don’t know deny Covid’s danger online, but I never thought I’d come face to face with the ignorance I witnessed this week at work.
Snippets of conversation:
"Why should I have to wear a mask in the store if most other people are wearing a mask?"
Why? To do your part and both protect yourself from Covid and protect others in case you're infected and don't know it. A very selfish attitude to say the least.
"I’m not taking the vaccine when it’s made available."
Smart. Also heard by this person, "I'm not an anti-vaxxer, but...." Sorry. The minute you utter those words you may as well stop talking because the next thing you're going to say is going to prove that you're an anti-vaxxer.
"They better not force it on us."
Or what? You'll protest en masse with no masks on? Keep your kids out of school?
"There are people making a lot of money from this vaccine."
Suddenly everyone is upset at pharmaceutical industry profits. Where have you been the last 40 years?
"More people died from the flu."
This is possibly the biggest urban legend there is right now. While the true mortality of COVID-19 will take time to fully understand, the data so far indicates that the crude mortality ratio (the number of reported deaths divided by the reported cases) is between 3% and 4%, the infection mortality rate (the number of reported deaths divided by the number of infections) will be lower. For seasonal influenza, mortality is usually well below 0.1%.
"The vaccine was made too fast."
So was your decision not to take it.
"The vaccine wasn’t tested enough."
If I'm a company making vaccine, I'm probably weighing the risk of releasing too early and risking my reputation versus waiting too long and allowing more people to die.
"Who knows if the vaccine will cause Alzheimer’s in people 20 years from now."
Show me one person, using verifiable facts, who contracted Alzheimer's from a vaccine. Go on. One.
"I heard about someone who suffered complications from the flu vaccine."
I know people who get really sick drinking milk. I bet you drink it by the gallon.
"Have you ever heard of “Big Pharma”?"
Yes. Have you heard of QAnon?
"Why would I talk to my doctor about Covid? They’ve been out of school for many years! What would they know about Covid?"
I honestly almost didn't have a response to this ridiculous utterance. I bet the health experts on TV haven't been to university in a few years either, yet they seem to know an awful lot about Covid.
"It’s just my opinion, I’m allowed to have my opinion."
You sure are. But in this case, you would have been better off keeping it to yourself.
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