On 7/18/2021 2:44 AM, SolomonW wrote:
On Fri, 16 Jul 2021 13:05:30 -0700 (PDT), Tiglath wrote:
But rejoice... Deplorables have a new name: The Unvaccinated.
I agree; if you do not get a vaccination in the US, you are deplorable. You are not only endangering yourself but everyone else too.
You might wish to consider:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/covid-19-now-a-pandemic-of-the-unvaccinated-not-so-fast/
(It is Black and Latino people who lag in vaccination rates.)
COVID-19 now a ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’? Not so fast
July 26, 2021 at 6:00 am
A Seattle resident receives the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine at the city’s Rainier Beach vaccination site in May. With vaccines plentiful in the
U.S., it might seem like unvaccinated people are making their own beds
with their refusal to accept science — but it’s not that simple.
(Amanda Snyder / The Seattle Times)
Naomi Ishisaka By Naomi Ishisaka
Seattle Times columnist
“A pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
That’s the misguided and dangerous statement that took hold last week nationwide as President Joe Biden and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky
used it to describe the latest phase of the pandemic, with Biden going
so far as to say, “Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated.”
Suddenly, headlines and cable TV news chyrons all screamed the pithy
sound bite.
On its face it seems logical. Cases among unvaccinated people are
soaring, and more than 99% of deaths are now among the unvaccinated.
COVID-19 cases overall nearly tripled in the past few weeks.
It’s tempting for a weary and frustrated vaccinated public to say “well, those people are getting what they deserve.” Vaccines are plentiful in
the U.S. and it might seem like unvaccinated people are making their own
beds with their refusal to accept science.
But it’s not that simple and to oversimplify by calling it a “pandemic
of the unvaccinated” will only make the problem worse.
I think for many — especially in liberal, well-vaccinated Seattle — unvaccinated people are perceived to be white MAGA supporters who listen
to conservative media telling them that vaccines are dangerous and that COVID-19 is a hoax. Yet that perception does not include the Black and
Latino people who lag in vaccination rates; it also fails to consider
the wider range of people who are unvaccinated or unable to get
protection from vaccines.
If we accept the idea that it’s now just a “pandemic of the
unvaccinated” and those smart enough to get vaccinated should be able to
go back to pre-pandemic life and too bad for everyone else, we are also
leaving behind groups like all children under 12 who do not yet have
access to vaccines; teens who remain unvaccinated (only 34% of 12- to 15-year-olds are fully vaccinated in Washington state);
immunocompromised people who are not seeing immune response from
vaccines; as well as communities of color who are hit hardest by the
virus. In Washington, for example, Hispanics account for 29% of COVID-19
cases, 13% of the population and only 9% of people fully vaccinated.
Calling it a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” also ignores the fact that
the unvaccinated groups are intrinsically connected to the rest of the vaccinated population. A vaccinated parent’s level of COVID-19
mitigation has a direct impact on their child’s ability to stay safe,
for example. An unvaccinated health care worker can have a direct impact
on an immunocompromised patient.
By ending almost all mitigation efforts — such as masking and distancing
— when Washington state officially reopened a few weeks ago, we
effectively hung up the “mission accomplished” banner before the mission was close to accomplished.
Now the delta variant is running rampant and cities like Los Angeles are reinstituting mask mandates to try to combat the surge. On Friday, King County’s top public health official, Dr. Jeff Duchin, recommended
everyone — including vaccinated people — wear masks again indoors.
Early evidence is suggesting that people infected with the delta variant
may carry 1,000 times more virus than the original virus. Even more
concerning, in Los Angeles County, 20% of COVID-19 cases in June were in vaccinated people, though it’s critical to note, the vaccine still
protects against serious illness and death.
Pediatrician and public health advocate Dr. Rhea Boyd said in a July 17
tweet that we need to resist the urge to flatten the motivations of the unvaccinated, writing: “‘The unvaccinated’ are not a monolith of defectors. They are people our health care system has long underserved – Black folks, rural folks, un and un/under insured folks and young
folks.” Further, the narrative around “vaccine hesitancy” in communities of color is overstated, Boyd said in a New York Times op-ed earlier this
year, and “implicitly blames Black communities for their
undervaccination, and it obscures opportunities to address the primary
barrier to Covid-19 vaccination: access.”
In an interview with journalist Ed Yong in The Atlantic last week, Boyd expanded on her point. She said, “availability and access are not the
same thing.” There are many reasons why structural barriers might make vaccines not as accessible as we may think for marginalized communities. Barriers can include lacking transportation; no paid sick time to take
off work to deal with side effects; lack of credible information; and
lack of basic preventive health care.
Boyd’s advice? Everyone should wear a mask indoors and in public spaces regardless of vaccination status.
This crisis is not over and it’s not just half the population’s problem.
We are in it together and must fight it together, if we hope to ever see
the end of this long, terrible nightmare.
Naomi Ishisaka:
nishisaka@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @naomiishisaka.
Naomi Ishisaka is The Seattle Times’ assistant managing editor for
diversity, inclusion and staff development. Her column on race, culture,
equity and social justice appears weekly on Mondays.
Most Read Local Stories
3 people killed, 5 injured in Seattle shootings early Sunday VIEW
Delta coronavirus variant now dominant in Washington. New study
questions J&J vaccine efficacy against strain
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)