Our Friend Science

 In recent days, the COVID news has not been at all encouraging. Cases here in the United States are setting records, and not in a good way. Becoming the world's leader in anything is always nice for the notoriety, but maybe this isn't the attention we were really after. 

But there is good news: Vaccines! Vaccines "greatly reduce the risk of infection by working with the body’s natural defenses to safely develop immunity to disease." That last bit comes from the Centers for Disease Control, and in the interest of science, I suggest we all read up on this topic in the coming months, because it may be the light at the end of the tunnel. 

But first of all, let's sort out all the negativity and fear surrounding the subject. It makes sense that initially the idea of injecting a virus into someone to keep that someone from getting a virus seems a little hokey. Which may be why there is a sub-species called "anti-vaxxers." Some of these folks argue that getting a shot in the arm is a violation of their human rights. They deny the science behind the medicine as vehemently as those who deny climate change or the continued sphere-like nature of the earth itself. It is a near certainty that this group will rise up over the next year, complaining on social media and anywhere else their keyboards will take them about the oppression they are experiencing at the hands of the healthcare system. The vast majority of these voices will not be muted by protective masks. Someone probably put the idea into these heads that the coronavirus was a hoax, "no worse than the flu." 

I get a flu shot. 

Every year.

I don't tend to get the flu.

I suppose this could be magic, or the fear I am able to instill in the germs floating around there that might infect me. Or it could be that vaccinations work. In the calendar year 2019, there were 1,282 cases of measles in the United States. The ever helpful folks at the CDC remind us, "Measles is more likely to spread and cause outbreaks in U.S. communities where groups of people are unvaccinated." Do you know anybody with polio?

Meanwhile: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all pledged to make a show of being vaccinated. They are willing to go on television for the world to see that needle plunged into their arm. Which may seem like a risk, on a par with man's attempt to fly. Just don't forget to take your friend science along on the trip.