COVID Vaccination, Part One: Vaccination Hesitancy And Education In America
I certainly would not suggest that American citizens are the stupidest in the world; I’m sure there are scores of other countries vying for that distinction. But, if one considers the fact that we are among the world’s best educated, and if one were to imagine taking the ratio of intelligence divided by the amount of education received, I believe that we would have to be the stupidest. And, I should emphasize that I use the adjective “stupid” as opposed to “ignorant.” In my reckoning, ignorant indicates those without knowledge, clearly not the case in the United States. Stupidity, on the other hand, implies not knowing what to do with the knowledge one has. Anyway, if the reader has any doubt about the veracity of my claim, let’s consider, for a moment, the sorry story of vaccination in America.
In the face of a deadly and ghastly contagious disease spread thick across our planet, and after nearly a year of partial, then almost total vaccine availability, and then, after over 6 months of what I term “hyper availability” (that is availability with rewards and incentives involving everything from $100 checks to shots of whiskey [no kidding! In New York City, where else? The “Shot for a Shot” Program]) and despite ubiquitous mandates from both governmental and non governmental employers, as of October 22, 2021, 34% of all Americans have STILL not been vaccinated. (Source: www.statista.com). And, it’s not as if those who remain unvaccinated just haven’t got around to it; the vast majority of the remaining unvaccinated say that they will NEVER be vaccinated. EVER.
The explanation given by “woke” public figures doesn’t, however, use the “judgmental” term “stupidity” to explain the phenomena. No, that would reek of “paternalism,” “chauvinism” or some such thing. No, the politically correct explanation is “vaccine hesitancy.” The astute reader will understand that the term “vaccine hesitancy” is not an explanation at all; it’s a description. But what IS the explanation?
“Vaccine hesitancy” is emblematic, I believe, of just what a poor job our educational system has done over the past half century. How so? Let’s look.
First, there’s math. Were the “vaccine hesitant” absent from math classes?… ALL of them?… Or were they just not taught properly. In addition to the procedural techniques used in doing mathematics, math instruction should also impart a quantitive “horse sense” to young minds. In this regard, for large swaths of our population, education, apparently, seems to have failed miserably. Somehow, many Americans are having trouble understanding what a tiny number the vaccine complication rate is. Of all the vaccine “brands” available, probably the most problematic is the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine which has had the most reported complications. The other vaccines have MUCH lower rates. As of late August, 2021, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been reported to have had 220 complications, the worst of which are termed “vaccine induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis” or VITT, admittedly a serious condition. Sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it?… Well, not really. Those 220 complications occurred when the vaccine was given 24.8 MILLION times! That is a complication rate of 0.00000887, or one complication for over ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN THOUSAND doses administered. Compare this to the COVID disease itself, which, as of October 21, 2021, has killed, world wide, 4,903,963 out of 241,366,720 who have had the disease, yielding a fatality rate of nearly 2% or 1 death for every 50 cases. (Source: www.ecdc.europa.eu) Even in the United States, with, arguably, the best COVID treatment in the world, the fatality rate is 1.6%, or 1 death for every SIXTY TWO CASES! (Source: Our World In Data)… Let’s see… hmmm…. that’s 1 vaccine complication (not all fatal, by the way) for every ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN THOUSAND doses, versus 1 DEATH for every SIXTY TWO cases of the disease itself…. How, in the world, is this comparison not understood by large swaths of the so called “highly educated” population of the United States? What HAVE they been teaching them in math class?
Next, what about biology classes? Were the “hesitant” day dreaming through all of them? Or were they not taught basic biology? One hears that people are frightened that the vaccine will alter their DNA. They are, apparently, not aware of a very important biological fact: because the vaccine is an RNA genome, it CAN’T be inserted into our DNA. The ONLY way that could happen is by means of a reverse transcriptase enzyme, which human beings (unlike certain plants) DO NOT HAVE.
Further, on the topic of biology, were the basic concepts of immunity and vaccination not taught? It seems that many people misunderstand that because a vaccine is NEVER 100% effective (there will always be “breakthrough” cases) that there’s no reason to take it. However, peer reviewed and FDA and CDC approved studies have shown the vaccines to be approximately 95% effective in preventing severe COVID disease. While that’s unfortunate for the 5% that don’t develop sufficient immunity, an incredible NINETY FIVE PERCENT of those vaccinated enjoy full protection from severe disease; so there’s EVERY reason to take it.
Then, what about history class? Were the “hesitant” asleep for the duration? Or were they not taught about the scourges that have afflicted mankind before the invention of vaccines. HORRIBLE diseases like small pox and polio? Disease that are extremely painful, disabling, crippling, and deadly malevolent. Were they not taught that even more familiar diseases, like influenza and measles, can still KILL AND MAIME large numbers of people. Didn’t they teach that the “Spanish Flu” of 2018 killed SIXTY MILLION PEOPLE. Didn’t they teach what a different world it was without the blessing of vaccinations.
And, then there’s civics class. Did the “hesitant” skip those? All of them? Or were they not taught about civic pride and civic responsibility? Were they not taught that individual rights always need to be balanced by the rights of others? Were they not taught that risking one’s own health and the health of those around them was NOT a patriotic thing to do, no matter how it’s rationalized.
So, dear readers, while there are likely many factors involved involvedin “vaccine hesitancy,” very poor education is certainly an important one, and one for which we should be ashamed, given the enormous amount of money our nation devotes to education. If I were to grade American education based upon “vaccine hesitancy,” I’m afraid, dear reader, that it would have to be a C minus. Or less.