Any wonder why this pandemic never ends?

By Rich Glennie on December 29, 2021.

I give up. At this point, nothing said now will ever change anyone’s mind. So let’s move on and accept the consequences.
I’m talking about the COVID-19 pandemic that still has many Americans believing it is either a hoax or over-hyped melodrama nearly two years in the making. Not sure if it will take a million American deaths to finally get the attention of anti-vaccinators, but we’re fast approaching that milestone. That’s enough to populate a major American city. Wiped out. Gone.
Apparently that’s not going to make any difference to many.
If a neighbour, dear friend or close relative gets sick, is hospitalized or dies of COVID-19, would that change minds? Probably not.
This pandemic is destined to end like the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. It will simply run out of hosts and disappear, leaving millions of dead worldwide in its wake.
The difference is we now know what we’re dealing with and many still don’t believe vaccinations work. Over one hundred years ago, they had no clue what a virus was let alone how to treat it.
In reality, today’s vaccine hesitancy has little to do with the science and the vaccines’ effectiveness any more. The science is there. The effectiveness is unquestioned if statistics mean anything.
The dilemma we’re facing is political. We simply don’t want to be told by “Big Brother” what we have to do. That’s our call, not the government’s, anti-vaxxers claim.
That would be fine if the information we are using to make a decision is all the same and accurate. That is impossible with all the social media “junk” floating around, mucking things up.
The real question is: Who do you trust more, a highly trained epidemiologist or a social media wonk sitting in his basement spewing out conspiracy theories? Once thought to be a no-brainer is no longer a no-brainer.
Thankfully my parents’ generation was smarter than many of us. They got their children vaccinated, no questions asked. The vaccines were said to prevent childhood diseases, and they believed it. And surprise, the vaccines worked and the polio pandemic, tuberculosis, measles outbreaks and other diseases were nearly eliminated within a few decades.
My parents did not argue that government officials can’t make them do anything, they simply followed their own common sense. You remember common sense don’t you?
We’ve become a nation of personal rights over the welfare of the community. Some people would rather do their own thing than look at the bigger picture of maintaining a healthy community. That, folks, is a definition of selfish and self-centered.
Anyone who has studied American history knows we are unique. We are a nation of rules and laws. But the recent uber-emphasis on “individual rights” has many Americans deciding for themselves which laws to follow. Those they dislike they simply ignore or disobey. Vaccine mandates come to mind.
Pretty soon Americans will be demanding that stop signs be optional and speed limits be considered mere suggestions. Oops, many are doing that already.
Looking at the stress-filled mess our hospitals, nursing homes and emergency room staffs are experiencing, there is little doubt where the problem lies. The unvaccinated are keeping the COVID-19 pandemic alive and thriving.
Is it any wonder this pandemic never seems to end? 
Rich Glennie is a Minnesota-based columnist and retired editor who has spent decades working at newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.