The Nevada Independent

Your state. Your news. Your voice.

The Nevada Independent

A Battle Born epidemic — of ignorance

Nathaniel Waugh
Nathaniel Waugh
Opinion
SHARE

When Jonas Salk, inventor of the first polio vaccine, explained why he was testing his new drug on himself and his family he said, “It is courage based on confidence, not daring, and it is confidence based on experience.” 

When the COVID-19 vaccine became available to me as an essential worker, I took advantage of it as soon as I could get an appointment. It wasn’t a courageous act; it was a desire to return to some semblance of normal. Helping the economy, seeing friends and family, and no longer battling with the upper lip sweat that came with wearing a mask were my biggest drivers. 

The hashtag “#3millionreasons” on Twitter is full of great and inspiring testimonies about family relationships and friendships that drove people to get the vaccine. COVID-19 and getting vaccinated was the easiest way to show that through shared sacrifice we can get through this. 

Yes, this is a vaccine-centric op-ed, and no, if you refuse to get vaccinated, I am not going to try to convince you why you should. The body of knowledge out there on vaccine efficacy and safety is extensive and has been thoroughly vetted and shared. Rather, with the Southern Nevada Health District recommending indoor mask wearing in Clark County and Clark County commissioners mandating workers mask up in public spaces, I find myself exasperated by the ignorance and selfishness of those who won’t get vaccinated and then go out and endanger those who can’t in order to make some kind of point to those of us who have. 

The guidance was quite simple: If you don’t want to get vaccinated, fine. Just wear a mask. Then we all entered this weird alternative reality where masks were compared to some of the worst and oppressive events in human history, invoking the Holocaust and slavery, at various times by elected, so-called leaders. Ending the worst pandemic in a century became a political issue. You can even tell someone’s political leanings, generally, by whether they wear a mask or got a vaccine.

National Review published a piece in which the author told those who have been vaccinated that disrespecting people who haven’t been vaccinated is the surest way to ensure they remain unvaccinated. Los Angeles County has pretty much admitted that its mask requirement, regardless of vaccination status, exists because of this thinking: If everyone has to wear a mask, then people who refuse the vaccine will be more likely to wear a mask because they won’t be singled out. And it absolutely floors me that we are using kindergarten rules to combat a virus that has killed more than 600,000 Americans. 

Instead of getting vaccinated, people have resorted to demonizing people who have dedicated their lives to public health. We have even seen hate crimes against members of the AAPI community and open attacks on people who enforce mask rules. People have lost their lives through violence because wearing a mask is... “oppressive.” 

Not getting vaccinated doesn’t make anyone a hero. Not wearing a mask is not fighting tyranny. (You can’t say the government is using facial recognition to track citizens and then also say the government wants you to wear a mask to control you.) It’s a piece of fabric, not a pillory. I am further confused by the many people who are skeptical about lab-tested vaccines but simultaneously believe in “the steal” of the 2020 election. Vaccine hesitancy is not the exclusive realm of conservatives — I know a few progressives and moderates who I consider friends who refuse to get the vaccine, and I disagree with them as well — but at least they wear masks.

I ask the doubters: Are not getting vaccinated and not wearing a mask really badges of honor? Do you really think you are making a point to all us “sheeple” who care about the welfare of other human beings? 

About 99 percent of hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated people. I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that some people would rather risk death by a now mostly preventable disease just to “own the libs.” If you don’t care about your own health, then at least stop oppressing — yes, I said it! — those of us who have chosen to get vaccinated. When you refuse to get vaccinated and refuse to wear a mask, it costs people their lives.

Nathaniel Waugh is a member of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Board of Trustees and a program supervisor at Hope for Prisoners where he focuses on workforce development for dislocated workers and recently released offenders. He received his Master of Arts in Urban Leadership from UNLV.

SHARE

Featured Videos

7455 Arroyo Crossing Pkwy Suite 220 Las Vegas, NV 89113
© 2024 THE NEVADA INDEPENDENT
Privacy PolicyRSSContactNewslettersSupport our Work
The Nevada Independent is a project of: Nevada News Bureau, Inc. | Federal Tax ID 27-3192716