Decapoda,
I apologize...been a little churlish lately. But Covid-19 is real. Millions have already died from it. I'm sure your loved ones and those who care about you are concerned for your well being.
The choice to get vaxxed or not is yours of course. We'd all just hate to see you perish from this awful virus. Same goes for Jin.
Maybe if I were a younger man, I too would also hesitate to get the vaccine. But as a schizophrenic in his mid 50's, I don't feel I have that much time left, so I'm not as concerned about long-term side effects.
No worries, we're all just trying to make the best decisions we can and do what we think is right. The thing that maybe some people beating the pro-vaccine drum may be missing is that people who are making decisions they don't agree with generally aren't stupid. They've likely given this as much, or maybe even more thought than many people who just lined up when they were told to. It's one thing to have a strong viewpoint, but another thing entirely to think you know what's better for others than they do and force your opinion on them.
I'm very fortunate to live in a province that hasn't completely abandoned the concept of autonomy and still allows some personal freedom and is not trying to punish people with draconian aurhoritarian legislation. I went to see my mom a month ago in a province where the people aren't so fortunate, I literally was locked in the house for the entire time because I didn't get the vax. Some of my family wouldn't even visit out of irrational fear that I wasn't vaccinated. They also still wash down their groceries when they come back from shopping and rarely leave their house for anything other than essentials. I couldn't wait to leave and will honestly likely never go back, there are some in my family who I may never see again. But I was happy to see my mom after over a year of not being allowed to. I noticed that people there are different. They've been given so little freedom back by their government, their perspective seems skewed. They are greatful for the crumbs they're being given by their leaders and are bitter towards people from outside their region for having something they don't have. Some of them are angry at their neighbors and friends, some are angry at family members. I think their anger is misdirected.
Everyone pro-vax keeps saying that getting the vaccine is a choice. That's laughable. If the wrong "choice" means that you are denied entry into restaurants, stores, public venues, public transit, interprovincial travel, denied the right to see family and friends, told you are the problem, shamed, insulted, fired from your job, etc. then it's not a choice, It's coercion. If the government wants 100% vaccination so badly then they should just force everyone to line up and take it instead of having private businesses and fellow citizens, friends and family do their dirty work. But they won't mandate it. Why not? Anyone who knows anything about social credit systems can plainly see what playbook this was taken from and what direction this is heading . If you don't know about it, you may want to look into it.
Thanks for the apology, it's good to know thst personal choice is still acknowledged by some... for now. It gives me hope that we may still have a chance to get out of this without giving up what we've worked and fought so hard to achieve.
