A significant benefit of last winter's Covid-related shutdown was a substantially reduced number of cases of the flu, normally the scourge of every winter.
But this winter, with fewer precautions in place and most of us out and about much more than a year ago, the flu once again looms as a very serious threat.
Compounding that threat is the very fact that cases were down last winter means that collectively we lost some of our collective immunity against the flu.
This reality illuminates the core issue about immunizations -- they are not really about individuals, they are about the herd.
The only way public health officials and elected leaders can sell things like flu shots or the Covid vaccines is to point out the legitimate scientific evidence that once you as an individual get the shot you are statistically less likely to get ill, or at least seriously ill, than if you remain unvaccinated.
But what is actually at stake is not your individual fate. It is about all of us. The only way to control these highly contagious viral bugs is for enough people to get vaccinated and also to practice preventative measures like masking and social distancing during spikes in the disease.
Therefore, your position on flu shots and Covid vaccines is a direct commentary on how you personally balance your own self-interest with the good of the collective whole.
This is particularly the case in the U.S., the most privileged society in the world. Those who refuse vaccinations under any pretense here qualify as the most selfish people in the world, because of the inequities built into our global systems.
By avoiding the shots, they may or may not be exposing themselves to illness but they are guaranteeing illness and death to the poor, the young, the old, the frail, the weak, and the meek.
I think I read in a good book somewhere that that is not what a moral person true to his or her faith would do.
And that makes those people hypocrites. They may falsely hide behind their religion to argue against vaccination, but if there is a God, that surely means they will never be admitted to heaven.
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THE HEADLINES:
* Pfizer Asks F.D.A. to Authorize Its Covid-19 Vaccine for Children 5 to 11 -- The agency has promised to move quickly on the request and tentatively plans to meet on Oct. 26 to consider it. A decision could come soon after Halloween. (NYT)
* VIDEO: U.N. Secretary General Calls Vaccine Inequity ‘Stupid’ -- António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, assailed the imbalance of Covid-19 vaccine distribution between rich and poor countries as he sought $8 billion to help narrow the divide. (AP)
* Young, pregnant and unvaccinated: Hospitals confront a wave of severe illness and death (WP)
* VIDEO: C.D.C. Urges Vaccines Ahead of Flu Season -- Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that because flu infections were low last year, immunity was likely to be diminished, making it doubly important to get inoculated. (AP)
* Anti-vaccine chiropractors rising force of misinformation (AP)
* A blast has torn through a mosque in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Kunduz, a Taliban official said, causing 46 deaths. As desperate Afghans resort to selling their belongings to buy food, international officials are preparing to fly in cash for the needy while avoiding financing the Taliban government, according to people familiar with the confidential plans. (Reuters)
* California fires may have killed hundreds of giant sequoias (NPR)
* Canada’s Employment Returns to Pre-Pandemic Level (WSJ)
* Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov received the prize “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression" in the Philippines and Russia. “Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. [AP]
* Three decades on, German mushrooms still show imprint of Chernobyl (Reuters)
* Senate Approves Bill to Raise Debt Ceiling and Avert Default, for Now (NYT)
* California’s latest oil spill should be its last if we want to protect its environment and economy (WP)
* California chronically undercounts the death toll of extreme heat by as much as sixfold. (Cal Today)
* A team of private investigators say they have identified the notorious serial killer, but F.B.I. and police officials say the Zodiac case remains unsolved. (SFC)
* Google said it would cut off ad money for YouTube videos and other content on its sites that include climate change denial, a major step for the tech company. “Advertisers simply don’t want their ads to appear next to this content," Google's ad team wrote. [HuffPost]
* Trump Tells Former Aides to Defy Subpoenas From Jan. 6 Panel (NYT)
* Chez Panisse is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, a feat for any institution in the culinary world. (SFC)
* Russians Beat Tom Cruise To Be First To Shoot Feature Film In Space (The Onion)
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"That's the Way Love Goes"
Over my left shoulder
I've spent most all my life
Searching for that four-leaf clover
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