Pandemics are nothing new.
The Middle Ages saw bubonic plague. Nearly 100 years ago, the world saw the Spanish flu. AIDS/HIV plagued us in the 1980’s.
We have seen Legionnaires’ disease, Ebola, Polio and most recently COVID and its variants.
In modern times, these plagues were discovered and science created a vaccine. Society had faith in the researchers and took the vaccine. In all cases, the beast was tamed and in some cases like Polio, the beast was eliminated.
We need to have a conversation about the resurgence of COVID and the highly contagious Delta Variant.
Let’s start with Polio. This disease crippled – or killed – mostly young people. President Eisenhower was in office. The minute Dr. Jonas Salk developed a vaccine, the former World War II hero determined that all children would receive the vaccine. No one railed against the vaccine. In fact, all elementary school children were vaccinated. This concerted program resulted in the eradication of the disease.
This doesn’t mean that the cause of the disease goes away; it means that its deadly impact is eliminated.
COVID and its variants are a different story. The miraculous creation of highly-effective vaccines in a short period of time happened, despite denials by our leadership, misleading or sensationalist reporting, and politically-motivated social media blitzes.
Graham County has one of the lowest vaccination rates in North Carolina. While we don’t have a large number of cases, that is because we have a low population. The economically-necessary relaxation of restrictions for certain businesses was implemented before we knew much about the dangers of the highly-transmissible and fast-expanding Delta variant.
What we do know is that of the 157 million American people that have been vaccinated, there have been only 186 (.003 percent) that have suffered severe symptoms.
Vaccines are not perfect, but the odds of a negative outcome from being vaccinated are so low as to be negligible.
A few nights ago, Beth and I and our granddaughter Claire attended a concert at Stecoah. There was a wonderful rendition of the Crosby, Stills and Nash 1970’s song “Teach Your Children.”
This song is really about teaching your children and your children teaching you in return.
Think about the lyrics and your legacy to your family:
Teach your children well
Their father’s hell did slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s the one you’ll know by.
And you of tender years
Can’t know the fears
That your elders grew by.
And so please help them with your youth. They seek the truth
Before they can die.
I do not want my family to remember that he put some amorphous right to object to anything above his love and hope for the future of his family.
Bear with me for just one more thought: why would I vaccinate my dogs against rabies, but not my family against COVID?
Roger Carlton writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, rcarlton57@hotmail.com.