Build unity and return to normal in Stanislaus County by getting COVID vaccine
Our championship high school football team was a source of spirit and pride that linked our student body together like family. The Friday night crowds, including parents and friends, added to the roar from the stands. And the song “United We Stand” oftentimes was sung in tribute to this camaraderie.
Recently the chorus to this 1970 hit by The Brotherhood of Man came bounding back to me: “For united we stand, divided we fall, and if our backs should ever be against the wall, we’ll be together, together, you and I.” It could very well be the anthem we need right now to unite our country in the battles that divide us, especially in regard to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Like most, I have many family members and friends who have experienced the COVID virus in varying degrees, some with lasting adverse effects. Sadly, as with others throughout the world, I have also lost family and friends to the ravages of this disease which can show no mercy. The reach of this pandemic’s web touches everyone and continues to threaten the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and economic well-being of people everywhere. It has also deepened wedges of discord among many sectors of society.
History teaches us, a divisive battle cannot be won in a vacuum. Understanding, empathy, wisdom and compromise are characteristics of the diplomacy necessary to end conflicts. Force and violence are not.
I am not a proponent of mandated vaccines that would violate our freedoms.
I am, however, highly sensitive to the devastating consequences brought on by this pandemic including nearly 600,000 deaths in our country, significant unemployment, online education limitations, small business failures, economic turmoil, increased levels of homelessness, isolation, anger, grief, emotional and mental distress, fear and mistrust, with the list continuing to grow. Combined, these issues have contributed to a tragic sense of loss and division among people which has been felt in our local communities and, clearly, all the way to the national level.
What can we do to change this trajectory?
Vaccination rates here in Stanislaus County and throughout the San Joaquin Valley trail those recorded at the state and national levels. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider getting a COVID vaccine to protect our own safety, health and well-being and that of our family, friends and community.
Medical providers can provide trusted information on the efficacy, benefits and risks of the vaccine and its appropriateness for their patients. Though some are not candidates for the vaccination, the vast majority of people are eligible.
Electing to get a COVID vaccine serves to unite each of us as a growing percentage of Americans opt to do the same. Countless medical offices, pharmacies and community vaccination clinics coordinated by our Stanislaus Health Services Agency offer them free of charge throughout the region.
By increasing the number of fully vaccinated individuals, we will more swiftly achieve herd immunity and the “return to normal” we universally desire.
Your decision to get a COVID vaccine may be the first step our community, state and nation need to begin to restore the sense of unity we lack. Let’s work together to once again stand united.