It's OK to blame the unvaccinated -- they are robbing the rest of us of our freedoms

[Nevilledog]

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Amanda Marcotte
@AmandaMarcotte
The unvaccinated defend themselves by talking about "freedom". But the truth is that they're the ones who are robbing the rest of us of our freedom. And we need widespread vaccine mandates to get our freedom back.

It's OK to blame the unvaccinated — they are robbing the rest of us of our freedoms
In a choice between mask and vaccine mandates, only one can restore our sense of normalcy
salon.com
10:10 AM · Aug 12, 2021

https://www.salon.com/2021/08/12/its-ok-to-blame-the-unvaccinated--they-are-robbing-the-rest-of-us-of-our-freedoms/

Everyone in the vaccinated world had that thing, the thing they missed most of all that they couldn't wait to get back once the COVID-19 shot set them free. Performers wanted to get back on stage. Engaged couples had their wedding plans back on. Game enthusiasts couldn't wait to get off Zoom and back to the tabletop. Some folks just fantasized about sitting in a bar or coffee shop again.

I really wanted to get back to my spin class. And for a couple of months, I did just that. Exercising at home for the past year was fine, but nothing beats a 45-minute spin class for leaving one red-faced and sopping wet with sweat. But it's that "sopping wet" part that became a problem this week when the gym sent out a memo bringing back their indoor mask mandate. This isn't a 5-minute jaunt in a grocery store with a mask. Exercising with a sweat-soaked mask is like being waterboarded. So I canceled my class and sent a polite but angry note to my gym. Philadelphia's new regulations allow businesses to choose between mask and vaccine mandates, and they chose poorly, penalizing those who did the right thing to coddle those who refuse. Masking the already vaccinated to protect the unvaccinated helps a little, but is a little like trying to cover someone in a rainstorm by holding an index card over their head.

But ultimately, I'm not even that mad at the gym. No, who I am mad at is the willfully unvaccinated, people who, out of irrationality and often raw Republican tribalism, got us into this mess in the first place. I am incandescent with rage that millions of Americans are putting it on the rest of us to protect them from COVID-19, just so they can avoid a simple, free shot that is available at every pharmacy.

Republicans, always ready to destroy lives for some perceived political gain, aren't even hiding anymore that they think being pro-COVID is good politics. As CNN reports, there's "a GOP-wide effort to use the fears and frustrations of Americans worried about another round of school closures and lockdowns as cudgels against their Democratic opponents."

*snip*

[The Magistrate]

1. Not Just Okay, Ma'am, But Necessary

Not just for the possibility shame and discomfort might alter behavior, but for relief of the feelings those who are endangered by these social criminals.

It will not happen, it's not the way people in the 'helping professions' are wired as human beings, but a voluntarily unvaccinated adult presenting with covid should receive only palliative care, and be left to get on with it in privacy.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. I realize there are some who can't be vaccinated for one reason or another, but I have run out

of patience with those who refuse just because they can. They have access to the same information as the rest of us and yet they refuse to do the one thing that could slow down the advance of this disease.

They deserve any amount of shame, blame and ridicule they receive.