Scuttlebutt: Vaccinations
By Mitch McFarland
Anyone could see this coming. We would eventually get a vaccine to curtail the virus and get back to normal activities and a significant portion of the population would not join the effort.
There are a large number of reasons why people would choose to not get vaccinated A small percentage of people, and I image it is a very small percentage, have a legitimate medical reason for not getting the shots. That's fine. They get a pass.
Others are just afraid. Chances are these people carry quite a bit of fear with them in their everyday lives, so for them it is natural to hesitate. Some, of course, are just crazy nutcases that live in a fantasy world of their own making that they enjoy more than what takes place in the physical world that actually defines their lives. These are the Bill Gates micro-chip types. Another group probably thinks that if enough people get vaccinated or infected, then we will reach herd immunity that will allow them to slip back into society when the virus has dissipated beyond widespread concern. I have a feeling that these are the type of people who crash wedding receptions.
I believe a significant group are the defiant types that resent anything they are told to do, particularly by any form of government. They consider themselves independent, free thinkers, who have an “inalienable” right to determine their own behavior. Oh, please. Grow up.
The libertarian in me respects the right of others to control what happens to their own bodies. Though I think they are wrong, I support their right to refuse the vaccine. However, I do not support their right to join in with the rest of us who have chosen to collectively act to end a world-wide pandemic.
I am perfectly happy with the idea of restricting where they are allowed to intersect with the vaccinated population. There are already discussions of various kinds of Covid passports for travel and other public attendance. Ticketron is considering not selling concert tickets to people without a vaccination certificate of some kind. Airline travel may require vaccination before getting on a plane. On and on and, I say, right on. No shoes, no shirts, no vaccine, no service.
I personally don't want to sit in a restaurant or crowded movie theater with anti-vaxers. Depending on which of the above kind of refuseniks they may be, it is not hard to imagine that someone who refused to get vaccinated might also be someone who has not carefully abided by required prevention measures. And I don't know why a restaurant owner would want someone who might be infected in their business. One case found in a restaurant would likely, shall we say, have a detrimental effect on reservations. And what about employees? Restaurants and other small businesses have a hard enough time getting employees for low wage jobs. They can't afford to have employees out sick or on quarantine. Training new employees is time consuming and expensive.
Some cry that this would create second class citizens, deprived of their “right” to fully function in society. Well, yea! But they would become second class by their own choosing, not because they are being subjugated by a group of bigots.
I recall a time in the late 70s when a local old-timer was commenting on the fact that among the newly arriving hippies there were some people with college degrees living in shacks, even with success in the “real” world. She didn't understand why they would choose to be without the luxuries and acceptance of the the modern world. She termed them the “volunteer poor”. She probably meant it somewhat derisively, but it was so right on, that few could argue with the notion. So I would like to offer the phrase “volunteer deprived”. Let them take it as a badge of honor.
*****
Three cheers for the environment. This is a policy area where we are likely to see the most dramatic change at the federal level, not just from the scorched earth Trump administration, but virtually all previous efforts to deal with our ever-deteriorating planet.
President Biden is surrounding himself with a team of people who have been instrumental in advancing efforts to protect the planet and its peoples.
Gina McCarthy has been appointed National Climate Adviser. She worked for 20 years in her native Massachusetts on energy issues before she transitioned to the federal level, becoming Obama’s EPA administrator in 2013 where she developed Obama's Clean Power Plan. During the dark days of the Trump administration she was the President of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a highly influential environmental organization. McCarthy's job will be to coordinate efforts across government and businesses regarding environmental issues. Former EPA administrator, Carol Browner, says that even compared to Obama, the Biden administration is putting its climate agenda “on steroids.”
Next up is John Kerry, who, as Climate Czar will coordinate U.S. efforts with international partners. As Obama's Secretary of State, Kerry helped write the Paris Climate Agreement.
Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm will be Secretary of Energy. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley and Harvard Law she had been considered for numerous positions in the Obama administration, but returned to Michigan to rise to the governor's office. She most recently taught at U.C. Berkeley and has appeared on TV as a progressive voice.
Next up is Michael Regan as EPA Administrator. Regan spent a decade at the federal EPA during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, where he worked on air pollution issues. In 2008, he joined the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), another hugely influential environmental advocacy group. First up for him will be putting new policies in place regarding the regulation of CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and cars.
Deb Haaland, a Pueblo Indian and 35th generation New Mexican, is the new Secretary of the Interior. I don't know much about her except that she endorsed Biden's plan to end oil and gas leases on federal land and has seriously pissed off Republicans That's good enough for me.
Finally, there is my guy, Pete Buttigieg, who will serve as the Secretary of Transportation where that agency's billions of dollars will now be guided by environmental concerns.
Oh boy.
