Dear Editor,
In a world of complexity, differences, schisms, rifts, rivalry and competition, sometimes things emerge that are unusually straightforward. This pandemic, for instance, is clearly a war and there are two equally obvious sides: Humanity versus the Virus. There is only one powerful weapon at our disposal in this war against an invisible but powerful enemy and that is the vaccine.
The insidious spread of coronavirus and terrible death toll over the past 18 months have revealed that this world war now boils down to the Vaccine versus the Virus. And the vaccine must be taken up by everyone who can take it in order for us to win this war (there are, of course, exceptions for those few who cannot have it for health reasons). And we are so lucky that there is an ‘us’ in this battle: for once in history we are all on the same side against the pandemic.
Refusing to take the vaccine is the same as siding with the virus against humanity. So, every anti-vaxxer is in effect a virus supporter. It is a victory for the virus every single time a person makes the conscious decision not to have the vaccine or just doesn’t bother to go to the vaccine centre when it is their turn. To be on the side of humanity, our social responsibility is to take the vaccine. And to turn it down in a country where there is a ready supply of vaccines is particularly heinous when there are people in poorer countries all around the world desperate for that supply while their loved ones suffer and die around them.
It doesn’t matter if we feel healthy enough to withstand the virus, it doesn’t matter if our politics are telling us to avoid the vaccine, it doesn’t matter if we are a risk taker, it doesn’t matter if we are simply scared of needles, it doesn’t matter if we are vegan or our body has always been a chemical-free temple, it doesn’t matter if we value personal freedoms more than the social good, it doesn’t matter if we hate lining up for things, it doesn’t matter if our interpretation of a religion is stopping us from getting vaccinated – the bottom line is that every one of us who refuses the vaccine is siding with the virus.
Can you imagine each time someone says no to the vaccine how the virus and its voracious variants all chuckle and rub their hands – or in this case their many protuberances – with glee?!
When someone in our future asks us “What did you do to help during the pandemic?”, the very least we should be able to say is “When asked to join the war against the virus, I did. I used the only weapon available, the vaccine. I overcame my doubts in order to do my duty for humanity.” And, if it is against our personal ideology or our nature, then we can be even prouder of ourselves that we stepped up to help the rest of the world.
So, let’s get vaccinated, do our bit for family, for friends, for co-workers, for our country and for the whole world. And be forever proud that we contributed to the victory of Humanity over the Virus.
Dear Editor – I count myself lucky: my husband, my sons, my sister, her daughters (my nieces), my dad and his girlfriend are all on the same wavelength as me when it comes to the vaccine. Despite the fact that we have different religious, philosophical and ideological beliefs, are quite different personalities, have very varied lifestyles, and between us live in three different countries, we all were 99% sure about taking the vaccine against COVID-19 and we all took the opportunity the moment it was presented to us. But I know there are families out there who are split by this issue and have difficulty discussing it.
I am hoping that this way of looking at things may help some of them and if it can help convince someone, even one person with vaccine doubts, to go and get the vaccine then I am very happy to have helped.
Louise Hudson
British/Canadian living in Algarve
