Smith: The Moral Imperative of Vaccination

I remember when the COVID vaccines first became available. There was such hope. We could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I was especially thrilled when my 87-year-old mother with Alzheimer’s received her first dose in January at her assisted living facility. It had been so hard for her during COVID; the isolation was almost unbearable for her and worse, she did not remember why we could not visit, why she had to wear a mask, or why she could not eat meals with her friends. It was painful for us not to be able to see her as well. But finally, the end was in sight.

Public Health Nurse Judith Raleigh administers a vaccine to a town employee.

I also remember anxiously awaiting my turn to get the vaccine, my ticket to freedom and a return to normal. By the end of May I was fully vaccinated. COVID infections and hospitalizations were going down and vaccine rates were going up. We dared to think that the worst was behind us and that COVID would soon be in the rearview mirror.

It was not that long ago yet the optimism is fading. Here we are, a mere two months later, and the refusal of many Americans to get vaccinated has us looking like we are heading backwards. For some reason, something that should pull us together as a country has divided us even further.

I suppose I should not be surprised. The same people who refused to wear a mask to protect others are the same people who are now refusing to get vaccinated. First, their refusal to wear a mask — and the refusal of so many in charge not to require it — made this pandemic worse and caused so many deaths. Now, their refusal to get a vaccine has caused the virus to spread and mutate to the more contagious Delta variant, which ironically is bringing a return to the mask-wearing.

The virus is deadly and this time around it is not the elderly or people with pre-existing conditions who are being largely impacted. According to an article in the Boston Globe over the weekend, Massachusetts hospitals are seeing an uptick in hospitalizations and deaths. The patients are in their 50s and 40s and younger and are otherwise healthy. The majority of them are not fully vaccinated. Children’s hospitals in South Florida are reporting increased hospitalizations of children with COVID and Baton Rouge’s children’s hospital is nearing capacity.

The recent outbreak in Provincetown has shown that the vaccine is effective. According to the mayor of Provincetown, of the 900 cases related to the Provincetown outbreak, there were no deaths, only seven hospitalizations and symptoms were mostly mild. The vaccine prevented severe illness and death.

Our country has been in this situation before. The reason that we no longer see the deadly smallpox and polio viruses is because of vaccinations. Most adults and children have been vaccinated against polio, mumps, measles and even chickenpox — thereby eradicating illnesses that killed thousands. When the polio vaccine became widely available in the 1950s, Americans embraced it like a war effort.

So, why not the COVID vaccine? More and more Americans seem to care only about themselves without no concern for how their decisions impact others. Hundreds of thousands of people have died since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet that has not been enough for some to get a vaccine that has proven safe and effective. There is no war effort. There is no empathy for those who are at risk. There is misinformation, willful ignorance, and blind partisan politics at play.

I completely understand the rights of people to make their own choices. But there are limits to those rights. It is illegal to drive a car while intoxicated because you could kill someone else. There are speed limits on roadways. Seatbelts are a requirement. Most of these laws came about because people were unwilling to do the right thing on their own.

In fact, the refusal of so many to do the right thing for the good of the country has caused some organizations to mandate the vaccine. The federal government has required its employees to be vaccinated, as have the states of New York and California. Wal-Mart, Disneyworld and Google, among others, have announced similar policies. Some restaurants and concert venues are requiring proof of vaccination for entry.

Furthermore, the constitutionality of vaccine mandates is well-established. In 1901, the cities of Cambridge and Boston mandated the smallpox vaccine. In 1905, in Jacobsen v. Massachusetts, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the mandatory smallpox vaccination programs in order to preserve public health.

We are not going to be free from COVID-19 until a large majority of Americans aged 12 and over (and hopefully younger once approved) get the vaccine. If we do not want a return to mask mandates, shutdowns, remote school and further restrictions, then those who are not fully vaccinated should get the vaccine now.

Those who choose not to be vaccinated are putting us all at risk, especially those with weakened immune systems, those too young to be vaccinated and those who are unable to be vaccinated due to health conditions. I truly hope it does not come to a vaccine mandate. I hold out hope that my fellow Americans realize that this is a moral obligation we all owe to each other.

Christine Smith is a mother of three, an attorney and longtime Canton resident.

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Posted by Christine Smith on Aug 7 2021. Filed under Featured Content, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.