Let us not forget the struggle to subdue and eradicate the deadly disease and enemy called COVID-19. It is still very much in effect. Though many seem to be under the illusion and false impression that the battle against this catastrophic contagion is all but over, their failure to rightly discern and detect the danger that is still a very present reality to us if we refuse to remain vigilant and celebrate a victory that has not yet been fully won. How often has history recorded people in different aspects of life who prematurely celebrated military, athletic, and other victories “before the fat lady sang” who were later greatly disappointed and heartbroken at the final outcome? We would do well to remember these very prudent words of the legendary New York Yankees baseball player and manager, Yoki Berra, “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over”. Though there is light at the end of the tunnel, that is getting brighter and brighter, we still have a way to go before we can celebrate complete victory over this pervasive pandemic.
Certainly, there is room and reason to be optimistic due to the ever-increasing millions of people who have been vaccinated. It appears as though (due to the diligence and priority that the Biden Administration has given to the battle against the pandemic), we are finally getting a handle on it. However, there are reasons (as is true when you are dealing with issues that involves millions of people with various and often conflicting beliefs and opinions or dissent and division) that delay the desired effect of total victory. Even now after more than a year into the fight against COVID-19, there are still diehard and misguided people who refuse to accept that the pandemic is real and still raging like a wild forest fire out of control in certain regions of this nation. Regrettably, in spite of the well over half-million casualties and people who are no longer with us due to being a victim of COVID-19, some people remain blind and indifferent to what the pandemic has inflicted upon millions of others who have either lost loved ones or suffered the agony of this microscopic menace and destroyer that does not discriminate. Then there are those (who in spite of all the deaths, hospitalizations, and disruptions of our routines and normalcies from schools to churches and restaurants to nursing homes and other places and activities in between), who refuse to wear masks, practice social distancing, and take all the other precautionary measures to help defeat this viral villain. Those individuals can perhaps be classified as aiding and abetting or at the least consorting with the enemy. Many people, in their constitutional and legal right to be wrong, have failed or refused to realize that their misguided and badly mistaken views have often been the kind that have given place to wars, genocide, famines, pandemics, and the decline and destruction of nations and civilizations.
There is another issue I would like to consider that is very relevant to what we are considering today that in my opinion must be brought up. This issue has to do with the vaccine hesitancy with which many are struggling. Though everyone must make their own decision about whether or not they are going to take one of the vaccines, I wonder how many people who actually have vaccine hesitancy have arrived at that place of indecision or uncertainly on their own consideration of the facts. I wonder how many have not even realized that they perhaps may have a negative, suspicious, and distrustful opinion of being vaccinated because of the faulty and misguided influence of someone else. Though not always the case in far too many instances, this is certainly the reason why many are hesitant and reluctant to be vaccinated. It reminds me of an incident that involved my oldest aunt on my mother’s side (who has been deceased for many years). She was given an opportunity to have her house (that badly needed some work done to it) remodeled for free through a grant from the county that had been given by the Federal Government. My poor aunt fell victim to her own ignorance and the negative influence of a neighbor who instilled fear in her. She told her to be careful how she signs her house over for the county to remodel and add a bathroom to it. It was later revealed that her neighbor could not have her house remodeled by the grant because it was heir property and she not the sole owner. The grant stipulated that you had to be the sole owner. Evidently, my aunt’s neighbor was jealous that she had an opportunity to get her house remodeled and she could not have hers done.
In my conclusion, I hope that each of us will do all we can to win the war against this pandemic. Our willingness to cooperate and be team players will drastically reduce the hospitalizations and deaths. Please remember that the life you save may be your own or that of a loved one.