To vax or not to vax?

To get the COVID-19 vaccination or not. That is the question! Unfortunately, there’s no one good answer to the question that fits all people.
    As a result, COVID-19 vaccinations—the lack of them, or the mandate of them—is yet another issue driving a wedge between American citizens.
    With COVID-19 making another surge in the country due to the delta variant, the debate over vaccinations has became more heated. On Sept. 9, President Biden threw fuel on the fire when he issued vaccination mandates for numerous sectors of the economy. Get vaccinated or get tested weekly. That’s the choice for employees in those sectors:
    • All federal workers and contractors must get vaccinated, with limited exceptions.
    •Private employers with 100 or more workers will have to require them to be vaccinated or tested weekly. Employers must provide paid time off for vaccination.
        •Health care workers in hospitals, clinics and other facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments, about 17 million workers, must get vaccinated.
        •Some 300,000 employees of Head Start early childhood education and other federal education programs must get vaccinated.
        While Nebraska has continued to keep a level head over mandates thus far, Colorado even beat Biden to the punch. On Aug. 30, the State Board of Health mandated that all health care workers in the state be vaccinated, with exemptions for medical and religous reasons considered.
    Both mandates show little, if any, consideration for the effects on rural communities.
    Just look at our neighbor to the west, Holyoke, Colorado. Their hospital is required by the state to mandate vaccinations. They have employees who are not vaccinated, nor do they plan to be. What happens? Do the employees walk or get fired? Do people strongly in favor of vaccination deny health care from or to someone who isn’t vaccinated? Then what happens to health care. ?
    All too often we see the overreach, especially by the federal government, of one-size-fits-all solutions. Mandates on masks? Well, ok, i guess. Mandates on vaccinations? One size does not fit all.
    Personally, I believe it’s up to each individual on whether they get vaccinated or not. Me, I got the one-and-done J&J shot. I had my own personal reasons as to why I got vaccinated.
    I’m not an anti-vaxxer or a strong proponent of vaccination but it sure seems that for people who are, their stand aligns with their political preferences. The issue becomes not a question of vaccines but of personal rights and whether or not those rights are being trampled on with mandates.
    Thus, this boils down to left versus right in an already deeply divided country.
    One thing that does perplex me is the double standard of the left on their “my body—my choice” stand. I guess it fine to apply that to abortion rights but not one’s right to choose whether or not to get vaccinated.
    There are all sorts of reasons a person doesn’t want to get vaccinated. But to get shamed into it is another whole issue.
    Who knows how long we will be affected by COVID-19. But one thing I think we all learned over the last 20 months is that the draconian measures that shut down schools, killed our economies and locked down people in nursing and care homes isn’t the answer.