Why We Plan to Get Vaccinated: A Christian Moral Perspective
“Unless we consider the moral shape of the challenges confronting us as a society, we will be overwhelmed by the loud, often extreme voices reducing complex decisions about vaccinations to rival narratives that pit individual sovereignty against state authority. We write as three Christian ethicists who believe the moral tradition we speak from not only can inform how Christians should think about their responsibility to be vaccinated against COVID-19 but can also illuminate public debate” - Public Discourse
I just tested positive. Symptoms were not horrendous, but were not fun, either; sore for the better part of two days, lots of muscle soreness and headaches, a bit of difficulty breathing, slept it off from afternoon to the next morning. Oddly, my family did not seem to get it. Hopefully either they quietly got the virus and didn’t test positive, or they somehow escaped it.
So somebody out there, take “my dose” to get yours earlier, and I’ll be checking in in the spring to get mine after some of the more critical people get theirs.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I’ll be waiting too. I’m not in the risky categories, and people that need it far more than myself or my wife, like first responders, old people, people that are sicker, etc., need to be getting this long before I do. I suspect I’ll be at least 1/3 of the way into next year before it’s generally available to people not in those categories, or before I even consider it. Plus, as an additional benefit, that way I’ll get to see a lot more of how people react to the vaccine before I take it.
In addition, after returning from Europe in January of 2020, my wife and I both had about 5 days of some kind of illness that seemed worse than what I typically get in winter, with a fever, small amounts of breathing difficulty, etc. Probably wasn’t actually Covid, even though there were plenty of Chinese people going through Frankfurt Airport at that time. But there’s no way to know for sure without getting tested, and without a repeat of that experience or what Bert had, I’ve no interest in getting or paying for a test.
Dave Barnhart
I probably won’t wait, but will have to see how well distribution is going. It looks like it will go out in waves anyway, with healthcare personnel and the elderly ahead of the general population. So, I’ll be watching for it to show up at Walmart or Walgreens or one of the medical facilities I’ve been hanging around in lately more than usual for various reasons.
My concern is that too few will get inoculated and we’ll see this bug continue to be a bigger burden on the healthcare system and economy for much longer than necessary.
On the bright side, a couple of the vaccines have shown extraordinary effectiveness, so that compensates some for the % of people that will delay or skip it.
My biggest concern though is for the Christian mind in all this: how we think about issues, how we get information, how we process information. It’s been an extremely disheartening year on that front.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Today’s poll. 47 percent will get take it. 27 percent are unsure. Rest will not. Great article by Joe Carter in GC on vaccination. Well researched and well written. Answers many pertinent questions. Only 14 percent of African Americans are willing to take the vaccine; yet, they are are dying at a 2 to 1 ratio. Sad and tragic.
Pastor Mike Harding
No soreness, but the lung tightness has been holding on since Monday. We’ll see where it goes. A few Two things I”ve learned:
1. If you get it and you’re in a risk group—older/fatter/diabetic—the government will pay for a monoclonal antibody injection. Well, at least the drugs, you and insurance get to pay for the injection part. CDC data suggests it reduces the rate of hospitalization in at risk people from ~9% to about 3%, which is way better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Treatment reduces viral load, which theoretically also reduces the number of people to whom you might be able to pass it on.
2. My wife’s in a study to see what happens with zinc. Apparently that’s suspected to help the body deal with it.
3. I’m in a study to see what happens with another drug used to treat inflammation.
(yes, blessings, or hazards, of living near Rochester MN, I guess)
I saw the bit about blacks not trusting a vaccine-the thought in the source I saw was that cetain elements in African-American communities are deliberately telling people that white people are out to get them. It strikes me that this is a nastier way of enforcing segregation than anything Bull Connor ever dreamed up, and a worse way of terrorizing blacks than anything the KKK was ever able to do. I don’t know how prevalent it is.
PS. There are three kids of people; those who can count, and those who can’t!
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Discussion