Critical Thinking, Part Deux – I’m Confused

I need some help here. I seem to be caught in a Covid 19 conundrum. I would like someone to explain the following to me.

People who are vaccinated can carry and get Covid 19, and they can also spread the virus. It’s just that if they do get it, the chances are that the sickness will be lighter than if they were not vaccinated. Sort of like the flu.

People who are not vaccinated can carry and get covid 19, and they can also spread the virus.  Its just that if they do get it, they risk having a much more serious case of the disease.

Personally, I believe that everyone should be vaccinated. I am, two shots plus a booster. That goes without saying.

Now. Particularly when we are at 75-80% vaccinated, why are we twisting ourselves into pretzels to ensure that everyone is vaccinated before letting them back into polite society? My wife is a PhD in microbiology and has worked in and around diseases her entire life. She has not been able to give me a cogent answer to this question. And she is one of the smartest people I know.

Some people liken it to requiring kids to get vaccine for the measles, mumps, whopping cough, polio, smallpox, and the like. The difference as I see it as these vaccines have been proven to work. If you get the jab, you won’t get the appropriate diseases. They have saved countless lives and have given new hope to many cultures where the diseases were endemic. The Covid 19 vaccines, while lessening the carnage of the disease, don’t seem to prevent it. And it also seems that they don’t last. Like the flu vaccines, we may be getting Covid 19 vaccines on an annual basis.

From the CDC:

• Vaccine breakthrough infections are expected. COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing most infections. However, like other vaccines, they are not 100% effective.
• Fully vaccinated people with a vaccine breakthrough infection are less likely to develop serious illness than those who are unvaccinated and get COVID-19.
• Even when fully vaccinated people develop symptoms, they tend to be less severe symptoms than in unvaccinated people. This means they are much less likely to be hospitalized or die than people who are not vaccinated.
• People who get vaccine breakthrough infections can be contagious.

Another source:

Studies have shown that the Omicron COVID-19 variant and sub-variant impact fully vaccinated and boosted individuals, as well as unvaccinated people. For example, a paper published by the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, and Statens Serum Institut in late January found that the BA.2 subvariant infects people regardless of vaccination status.

In the meantime, we are firing people who aren’t vaccinated. We are preventing non vaccinated folks from entering stores, bars and restaurants and shunning non vaccinated people in social situations.

My problem is we don’t seem to be asking the question “Why?” Now maybe I have missed something important in the information from the CDC. If so, could someone please fill me in.

I personally think people who aren’t vaccinated are walking a tightrope, but that’s their business. From what I can see, they don’t affect me any more than those who are vaccinated. Should they be vaccinated, YES! I lost a dear friend to the flu a few years ago because she refused to be vaccinated. At least I believe she would still be alive if she had taken the shot. She elected not to and paid a terrible price. Should she have been shunned and prevented from working because she didn’t get a flu shot? I don’t think so.

Perhaps you aren’t confused but I know I am. And I’m serious. Please let me know where I have gone wrong.

JVH