Why do you care if I wear a mask if you are wearing one?
Why do you care if I’m vaccinated if you are?
Why are you pushing so hard to get me vaccinated against a disease that is 99% survivable?
Why are you silencing the voices of those who disagree with you?
Why are you calling it a vaccine when it’s not?
Just some questions that keep going through my mind. I believe in a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to the government and media.
Oh, I can answer these.
1. Because a lot of people who have Covid-19 are asymptomatic, meaning they have it but don't know it (Don Jr. was one). We wear masks primarily to protect other people from us, in case we have it but don't know it, rather than to protect us from other people. Therefore, I would like you to wear one to protect me, just as I would wear one to protect you, and we'll both protect everyone else standing around.
2. Because I don't want you to die, but beyond that, Covid is contagious in addition to being infectious, meaning herd immunity is a thing. Remember that? It can happen, but a) we don't know how much we can count on immunity through previous infection (if at all), meaning it really needs to rely on vaccination, and b) it doesn't kick in until at least 70% of the population is vaccinated, and possibly more. (
What is Herd Immunity and How Can We Achieve It With COVID-19?) Subtract about 15% of the population who are 11 or younger, and that means most of us grown-ups need to get vaccinated. The more we get, the closer we get to everyone beating this thing.
3. Because a serious case will ruin your life even if it doesn't kill you, and second of all, there's the sheer numbers. The most recent numbers show that in the US, about 1.8% of serious cases result in death (
Mortality Analyses - Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center). Multiplying that out means that at my workplace, which has about 1,000 people, 18 of my co-workers would die; a city the size of Kansas City (about a half million) would have about 9,000 funerals; and among the roughly 250 million American adults, that's about 4-1/2 million, or about ten times the number of American soldiers who died in World War II. I'd rather not expose our nation to even a fraction of that.
4. Because there's a difference between disagreeing with an opinion, and spreading false information. I mean, if there were missiles heading into my hometown, I would be putting people in danger by walking around saying, "It's okay, there are no missiles, go about your day." As soon as someone else pointed out the incoming vapor trails and told me that I was wrong, they would be *correct* to silence me if I didn't change my tune. It's immoral and dangerous to put people in harm's way by spreading bad information that has already been shown to be true.
5. Because it is one. (
Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe?)
All of that said, I fully support your healthy dose of skepticism regarding the government and the media; that's not a bad idea all around. I would suggest two things for you, though: First, keep that healthy dose for whoever is giving you your information now, whoever that is, and second, look for reliable sources outside of the government and media. For example, I've linked three times to Johns Hopkins, which is neither government nor media, and is highly respected and reliable.