Well, that was sure something.
The response to my last column, that is. You know the one.
It got me a lot of praise in emails and texts, and a lot of outrage. The outraged had questions, advice, choice curse words (lots of them) and condemnation. In other words, people had opinions. Which is what this column — not an article (please understand that there’s a huge difference), but a column — is about. Opinions. Specifically my opinion. Yours may differ.
And when their opinion differed from mine, it wasn’t enough to point that out — I was called a crude four-letter name for a vagina that begins with “c.” Honestly, if you’re a woman and you have an opinion and you express it, you’re used to being called that term, along with all its vulgar sisters. At least the dude who called me a “f@#king c@&t” seems to understand that’s what they indeed are sometimes used for. Way to go, bro!
Still, I thought I might have some ‘splainin’ to do, a phrase Desi Arnaz used to say to his TV and real-life wife, Lucile Ball, on “I Love Lucy,” whenever she messed up. Of course, we all know that it was actually Desi who had lots of ‘splainin’ to do in real life for all his messes.
There were some common themes in some of the feedback, disturbing themes. But first, when you agree to host someone no matter the platform, or rent to someone, you can’t just throw them out on the street. There are rules and procedures one must follow, and I follow them, even if there was a misunderstanding or miscommunication on vaccine status, and even if there was an offer (rejected) of a refund.
As I read through the comments and emails, I couldn’t help but wonder how many who wrote in defense of the unvaccinated are as welcoming across the board; do they welcome undocumented people, or transitional housing for those experiencing homelessness, or low-income and affordable housing for those living on the margins into their community? If you’ve read this column, you know I do.
People escaping violence, war, drought and starvation in their home country; or who are barely getting by; or who are down on their luck in pricey Marin rarely cause harm to the health of my community. People who can get vaccinated for free and choose not to — to be clear, not people with medical issues whose health-care provider advises them to not get vaccinated or children who are too young — actually can cause, and are causing, harm.
Yes, vaccinated people can spread COVID, but they are much less likely to transmit the virus even if they become infected. Not so with unvaccinated people. So, yes: the more unvaccinated people in the community, the more virus transmission, according to doctors and experts.
I don’t hate the unvaccinated; I’m exhausted by them, and so are many others who follow one of our most basic beliefs — that we are our brother’s keeper, and that all of us have a responsibility to protect society’s most vulnerable.
And it’s exhausting to address the misinformation. Many who wrote to me believe that most of the people sick in the hospital or in the ICU are vaccinated, which is 100% not true.
As someone much smarter than I once said, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.”
From the links they sent — not a credible news source among them — it’s clear they’re getting their medical advice from podcaster Joe Rogan, who has been called “a menace to public health” by 270 physicians and scientists, people who dropped all their other research to focus on one thing, SARS-CoV-2. Those are the people to believe. And from Rogan’s guest, Dr. Robert Malone, the subject of a scathing article for unrelentingly spreading vaccine misinformation. He was also permanently banned from Twitter for “repeated violations” of its COVID-19 misinformation policy.
They, like Fox News host Tucker Carlson, are truly dangerous men to our health during a pandemic and to America’s democracy.
I wouldn’t follow any medical advice from Oprah or Gwyneth Paltrow, either.
Some equated excluding the unvaccinated from certain activities and businesses to the Holocaust, a trope promoted by Malone and some Republicans. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who lost her parents and other relatives, as well as her home and all her belongings and four years of her young life in concentration camps, trust me — I have some skin in this game. So please indulge me while I point out an essential difference between what happened under Nazi rule and what’s happening in the U.S. now.
During the Holocaust, those in power wanted to kill people (mostly Jews); those in power during this pandemic are trying to keep people alive! With free vaccinations and guidance, like masking, on how to keep safe! See the difference? And no, Connie, Jews were not “persecuted and separated based on their beliefs.” Oy, vey, it had nothing to do with our beliefs. If you don’t understand how and why the Holocaust happened — and a frightening number of people don’t — there are lots of great reputable resources to turn to, like the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Just, you know, not Dr. Malone.
When you connect the dots, it’s easy to see that many people are rejecting vaccinations because they’re getting really bad information if not downright lies. I don’t know if or when they will realize how they’ve been bamboozled, but if the satirical, insightful film “Don’t Look Up” offers any clues, it will be (spoiler alert!) too late.
So we’re forced to trust that the unvaccinated among us will always do the right thing and we have already seen in Marin, when unvaccinated musicians weren’t masked but were supposed to be and caused a super-spreader event, that we can’t count on that. Even a high-profile but anti-vax athlete like Novak Djokovic may have lied about his COVID status.
In the meantime, exhausted parents are scrambling to find at-home antigen tests and the proper masks (the cost of which are prohibitive for Marin’s disadvantaged people), schools are struggling as sick teachers and staff are absent; health-care workers are burned out and working with COVID-positive co-workers; businesses barely holding on after two hard years are being attacked while they struggle to carry on as best they can with reduced staff; the disabled, the immunocompromised and parents of children under age 5 live in fear, (more than 5% of Marin residents younger than age 65 have a disability; 4.5% are under the age of 5), and young people are saddled with rising mental health issues.
Even the Pope last week called getting vaccinated against the coronavirus a “moral obligation,” “an act of love” and respect for the health of everyone around us. I don’t care how “mild” you think omicron is; telling people not to worry about contracting it is the most heartless and ableist thing anyone can say, especially since thousands are dying every day from it — Marin has lost 200 loved ones — and we have yet to fully understand long COVID. And many people don’t know they have underlying issues until they get sick.
I don’t hate the unvaccinated. Heck, I don’t even want to see them get sick with COVID. I just wish they cared as much about their Marin community as they care about themselves.
That’s my opinion. Yours may differ.
Vicki Larson’s So It Goes column runs every other week. Contact her at vlarson@marinij.com and follow her on Twitter at OMG Chronicles.
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January 18, 2022 at 03:01AM
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Vicki Larson: This is my opinion on Marin’s anti-vaxxers; yours may differ - Marin Independent Journal
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