The president and other government officials can’t figure out why people won’t get a COVID-19 vaccination (full disclosure: I am vaccinated). Here are a few possible reasons:
The government told us in March 2020 not to wear masks because they wouldn’t really help. A few months later, they told us to wear a mask. Then they told us wearing two masks would be even better. Then they said if we got vaccinated, we wouldn’t need to wear a mask. Now they tell us that we have to wear a mask, regardless of our vaccination status.
The government originally said we would only need to wear masks and practice social distancing until they “flattened the curve” and the hospitals weren’t overloaded. That happened, but we’re still wearing masks and social distancing.
The government said in early 2020 that you couldn’t gather with your friends outside at a park, beach, ball game, etc., because they would be “super spreader” events. But they said nothing when thousands of people gathered for protests in the streets, standing shoulder to shoulder with no masks on for hours, shouting and screaming.
The government said in 2020 that once a vaccine was available, and we got vaccinated, life would return to normal. Then the Delta variant appeared, and now they say life will return to normal once the Delta variant is under control.
The government said that once we got the vaccine, it would act like any other normal vaccine—it would prevent us from getting the virus or spreading it. Now they tell us that even if we’re vaccinated, we can still get COVID-19 and also spread it.
The government originally said getting vaccinated would be strictly voluntary. Now they tell us that getting vaccinated is mandatory and they will force us to get it or suffer penalties.
The government said in 2020 that the virus was so dangerous and contagious that we couldn’t visit dying loved ones in the hospital, or hold funerals or graduations or weddings. But thousands of people are continuing to enter our country illegally, and the government is allowing them in without testing them for COVID-19.
The government said that once we reached “herd immunity,” life would go back to normal. But now they can’t even agree on what constitutes herd immunity, and life is certainly not back to normal.
Prominent politicians who issued edicts on mask-wearing were then caught on camera at events where they were not wearing a mask.
In March 2020, the government shut down the economy, destroying businesses and putting millions of people out of work. But no government officials who were making the rules lost their incomes or jobs, because they were considered “essential.”
In short, people don’t trust what government officials, bureaucrats, and public health officials say anymore when it comes to COVID-19 or getting vaccinated.
Can you blame them?
Kenneth Vasquez
California
