Extra

On February 11, 2021, my wife and I got our first dose of the coronavirus Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine; we got our second dose on March 3.

In May 2021, President Joe Biden set a goal of 70% of all adults ages 18 and older vaccinated with at least one shot by the vaccine by the July Fourth holiday. At the time, this seemed like a reachable goal as the U.S. had enough vaccines.

Unfortunately, July Fourth has come and gone and the 70% goal has not been reached with 55.4% fully vaccinated and 64.4% partially vaccinated. Why, because nearly one-third of Americans have no immediate plans to get vaccinated.

The irony is that some countries are clamoring for vaccines, while too many Americans are resisting believing the coronavirus threat has been exaggerated or believing the evidence that previously infected people retain some immunity to the virus. That means herd immunity may not be reached or will be unreasonably delayed.  

Now the U.S. is dealing with the Delta variant, which is as much as 50 to 60% more transmissible. The Delta variant poses a serious risk to people who are not fully vaccinated, as it is highly contagious and may result in more severe disease. The more we delay reaching herd immunity, the more chances of other more deadly mutations. Both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are still nearly 90% effective against this variant while the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine works about 60% of the time. 

Contra Costa County, California took the daily average of new cases in the County over the previous week. Among those new cases who had been fully vaccinated was 0.6 per 100,000 residents. But it was 6 per 100,000 among those who were not inoculated — 10 times higher. It should also be noted that although most people get better within weeks of illness, some people experience post-COVID conditions including among other things tiredness or fatigue, “brain fog,” loss of taste or smell, heart palpitations, and depression or anxiety. 

How can resistance to getting vaccinations be overcome? By now the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness has been proven again and again over time, yet resistance remains. And we continue to hear that persistent education about the vaccines’ importance will eventually overcome resistance. If the unvaccinated aren’t convinced by now about the lifesaving benefits of vaccination, they just haven’t been listening or are listening to the wrong sources. 

We are still in a public health emergency, and public health trumps politics or claims of privacy. As long as medical and religious concerns are accommodated, we should mandate that the reluctant, the recalcitrant, and the reckless get inoculated at the federal, state and local levels as a condition of employment.  

In this regard, on June 23, 2021, the City of San Francisco will require all 35,000 of its employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or risk losing their jobs. Hopefully, other cities, states, the federal government, colleges and universities, and employers will follow San Francisco’s example. 

Get vaccinated. It’s the right thing to do.