Vaccine stupidity: Republicans 43%, Democrats 5%

A recent Monmouth University poll found that a bit more than one in five Americans intend to avoid getting vaccinated. But get this: 43% of all RepubliQs polled said they wouldn't get the shot, while only 5% of Democrats were anti-vaxxers.

More proof that the RepubliQ party is the party of the stupid! Trump said he loved the uneducated. And the stupid, and the foolish, and the irresponsible...

The only positive aspect of this is that it will result in fewer Republicans.

Poor old DonDiego has already submitted to the two-shot prophylactic regimen.

It didn't hurt, . . . much.

Yes, so have I. It turned me into a newt. But I got better.

I have no problem with people deciding to not get vaccinated.  The issue I have is that the current legislation makes the government pick up the tab for anyone who gets hospitalized.    And thats all when and good when no vaccine was available.   But if people make the voluntary choice to not get vaccinated they should be on the hook for their own bills...after all, we dont want socialism.

I would go further than that. If a person decides not to get vaccinated, contracts Covid, and infects someone else, that person is criminally liable. It's already on the books: "reckless endangerment."

It's almost certainly already happened tens of thousands of times. Some numbnuts goes prancing around in a dance club, spring break, MAGA Moron rally, biker convention, church, whatever, and brings the virus home to friends and family. Then people die. The worst part of it is, often Typhoid Freddy--or whoever--isn't affected by the virus at all. They may not even be aware that they've killed somebody.

There are advantages to being a newt:

"Newts possess several interesting characteristics. For example, though they may look cute and harmless, they can be dangerous; toxins secreted through the skin as a defense mechanism could kill a person. Newts also can regrow lost limbs and organs."

Ref: Facts About Newts

If poor old DonDiego could "regrow lost limbs and organs", he'd've pr'bly lived a more exciting life.

Not only that, they are capable of achieving political prominence, as with the esteemed Newt Gingrich.

What is criminally liable, at least in the US, is performing, even to the point of touching, medical intervention on a person without their consent.  It is called assault.  Can't recall if transmitting AIDS to someone without their consent, as in not informing a sex partner one has AIDS and the male not wearing a condom ever succeeded in the courts.  Charlie Sheen's women who were exposed (personally I think that could be called reckless endangerment, but I'm no lawyer) are still alive as far as I know but can't recall if any of them took Charlie to court on it, or were successful in getting a judgment.  Now there are drugs to treat AIDS and effectively almost, but not totally, cure it.  Again, it depends on the patient being compliant with the medication.  AIDS meds were pretty draconian at first but are better now as far as side effects, or so I'm told.

So, back to Covid, nobody can force anyone to take the vaccine (or even be tested).  Hospitals and other organizations are exploring this but they won't succeed, just like with Flu vaccine, no hospital can legally require an employee (or patient) to take Flu vaccine, even though most provide it free at the business.  They can insist employees who won't take the flu shot to wear a mask while on duty, things like that, but not sure how successful that has been, if at all.   TB is the only one I can recall that mandated certain actions (back in the '50s when people had a conscience), such as reporting to the local Health Department where they are given medications to take for like a year or more.  I can't recall how that is enforced, but who doesn't want your TB to be cured?.  Way early on before meds, TB patients were required to report to a sanitarium and stay there for however long.  TB was virtually eliminated in the US until AIDS came along, they came in contact with someone from a foreign country who had latent (or even active) TB, so TB came back with a vengence, at least in the AIDS population. 

We still had to take the TB skin test every year at work.  If positive you had to go to the Health Department and they did the followup, including CXRs, dispensing one's medications, etc.  It was, I remember being told, a condition of employment.  I think we took a (TB skin test) with a pre-employment physical, so if someone refused the skin test at that point they simply weren't elegible to be hired in the first place.   Maybe something can/will come about in regard to being tested for Covid-19 before being hired, which could be an incentive to be tested and maybe even take the vaccine.  I don't know, just imagining.  Sorry to go on so long.

Candy

Actually, Candy...

Having sex while HIV-positive and not informing the other person (or taking precautions) has indeed been found to be a criminal act as well as a civil liability under tort law. Most of those cases are decades old, though, since HIV is now easily treatable.

Also, "forcing" an employee to be vaccinated has already been tested in the courts (regarding a vaccine for a condition predating the pandemic) and found to be perfectly legal. Employers can mandate certain health conditions as a prerequisite/requirement. We're also already familiar with requiring children to be vaccinated against measles, etc. before attending school. And yes, parents can claim religious objections (absurd, irrelevant, and one of the worst kinds of child endangerment, but still...), but in turn, school districts can insist that such families employ home schooling (which is probably the preference of fundamentalist anti-vaccine parents who don't want their children's heads filled up with that liberal science nonsense, anyway).

Biden's approach to this, as with most of his policies, has been carrot rather than stick. There are many ways people can be incentivized to get vaccinated. Frankly, I'm surprised that the Orange Turd's public acceptance of the vaccine (and getting shot himself) didn't change the minds of most of the RepubliQ nimrods who think vaccines are SOOOOOCIALIST or something. Soooooo...I don't mind at all the idea of a BIG fucking stick. I don't give a shit about your so-called "personal freedom." That freedom is not absolute. You don't have the freedom to endanger your fellow man's health. I don't care if an anti-vaxxer drops dead; I just don't want him causing someone else to drop dead. Thus, chain him down and stick the needle into his arm. And before you release him, kick him in the balls---hard---for being such an idiot asshole.

Thanks for that information, Kevin.  You  do have a way with words!  You point about children starting school is well taken, but I've read articles by pediatricians who say to some parents the baby shots can be a hard sell, and still some resist.  Unbelievable!   

Heck, when I 'went to school' in 2008 to get my BSN (was already an RN), I had to update several vaccinations before I was admitted to the program.

I personally do not know anyone who is declining the vaccines.  But, we know how humans are.  If there were no vaccine, the very ones who say they don't trust it right now would be screaming for it and trying to sue somebody.

Candy