8 - August 05, 2021
OPINIONS
The opinion page does not reflect the
views of the KyNewsGroup.
By Cecil Lawson
twas somew at eartemng
back at the end of June to look
at one of those incident rate
maps of Kentucky and not see'
the entire state colored in red.
I’ve seen the color red for far,
far too long over the past year.
Earlier this year, when the
COVID-19 vaccines were first
made available to the public,
things got off to a slow start in
the Eastern part of the state.
At first it was the availability,
but within several weeks, it
was almost as easy to get as
our region’s other favorite con—
trolled substances.
Once it was available in
large quantities, in a wide va-
riety of locations, public health
officials began talking about
“vaccine hesitancy.”
Now, this week, with the
world trying to “return to nor-
mal,” with school getting ready
to start, I’ve watched public
health maps of the United
States and of Kentucky begin
to turn red again.
You see, the longer the
SARS-COV-Z virus remains
within the population, the more
opportunities it has to mutate.
Since it first appeared in Janu-
ary 2020 (and was probably
around earlier than that), there
have been multiple mutations,
each one slightly different, the
British variant, the South Afri-
can variant, the Brazilian vari-
ant, and now, the Delta variant,
which has turned out to be
the most infectious one so far
and with more negative health
problems. Who knows what
might come next.
The fact is, as a nation, we
had this coronavirus on the
run at the end of June, but it
was not to be. Politics, con-
spiracy theories, and just plain
stubbornness made sure that
it would be hanging around
DIMMING OF THE LIGHT AT
THE END OF THE TUNNEL
for a while longer, making
more people sick, disrupting
our lives yet again, and putting
more of our loved ones in the
ground.
The utter disregard a broad
swath of the population seems
to have when it comes to sim-
ple public health measures —
wearing a mask, washing your
hands, avoiding big crowds,
and getting a couple of shots
— tells me a couple of things.
First, convenience matters
more than health and safety.
’Ihose people want what they
Want, and they want it now.
They don’t have time for this
mask foolishness, no time for
squirt of hand sanitizer, no
time to schedule an appoint-
ment for the vaccine. Each of
them is a freight train barrel—
ing down the tracks, and they
cannot seem to slow it down.
Second, politics matters
more than the common good.
Numerous surveys conducted
this year have shown that the
divide between the vaccinated
and unvaccinated mirrors the
division between Democrats
and Republicans in our coun-
try, and between those who
didn’t vote for Donald Trump
in November 2020, and those
who did.
What amazes me even more
than this are the seeming
number of intelligent, even
educated people who cling to
untrue beliefs and outland-
ish conspiracy theories about '
the vaccines and vaccination
efforts. Eastern Kentucky,
which has one of the largest
populations of people with pre-
ventable health problems such
as diabetes, heart disease, and
cancer, has suddenly become
concerned about “what they
put into their bodies” when it
comes to the vaccine. People
who I’ve heard complain about
government red tape and too
many regulations are now sud-
denly concerned that the FDA
“hasn’t done enough testing”
on the vaccines available. Or
people who seemingly don’t
have a problem with “I scratch
your back-you scratch my
back” politics in their everyday
lives are suddenly concerned
about someone gaining politi-
cal advantage because of the
vaccination efforts. And the
uncertainty about the origins
of the coronavirus, whether in
an open air food market in Wu-
han, China, or from the Wuhan
Virus Research Lab, had led
far too many people to become
absolutely certain in their
knowledge of geopolitics and
the various supposed cabals of
scientists and politicians com-
plicit in “spreading” the virus
around the world, in order for
governments to get more “con-
trol” over you.
As a reporter, I’m used to
dealing with uncertainty on a
daily basis. I know the truth
is out there somewhere, but I
also know that I may never ful-
ly grasp it. It doesn’t lead me
to live in fear, or give in to idle
speculation, or want to hitch
my wagon to someone who
claims to have all the answers.
I am aware there is sometimes
a big gap between the details
provided in statements of pub-
lic officials and the details peo-
ple on the ground may know,
but that doesn’t damage my
trust; I have just learned to be
more discerning.
I say all this because that’s
what we all need when it comes
to confronting, and ultimately
getting a handle: on, the coro-
navirus. Most of the public
health advice rendered so far
isn’t hard to understand, and
its not contradictory. Yes, our
knowledge of the coronavirus
has grown in leaps and bounds
since January 2020, and we
know have vaccines that can
bring it to a halt But the prob-
lem is, too many people don’t
trust with discernment.
I only wish people would
turn the same distrust and
scrutiny to the conspiracy
theories and their stubborn?
ness before more of our fellow
citizens have to get sick and
maybe die.
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