Stop telling me the vaccine won’t make a difference
I’m old enough to remember Before Times, when the anti-science cranks were the ones who told you that vaccines protect neither the vaccinated nor anyone in their vicinity. In that simpler, more innocent time, when we worried that violent unrest might spring from comic book movies, the pro-science message was that vaccination was prosocial, a civic duty that benefited all.
Nowadays it’s nominally pro-science people who remind us that it isn’t safe to be around people who have been vaccinated. The more enthusiastic they were about the 2017 “Science March”, the more loudly they scold us that being vaccinated will in no way make me fit to resume normal activities. The same people who once denounced the antisocial nature of anti-vaxxers now insist that the vaccinated must still socially distance for the good of all.
Yes, I am quite aware that no vaccine is perfect. That is exactly why it is so important for everyone to get vaccines: Even if I am vaccinated, it is possible that I am not as protected as I thought I was, but if the people around me are also vaccinated then they’re unlikely to pass a disease to me. We can never know for sure who is and isn’t protected, but the odds of transmission go down if everyone is vaccinated.
In the Before Times, that reasoning was deployed to show how vaccination was vital to life as we knew it. It was a powerful argument, and a refutation to the anti-vaxxer argument “If you’re vaccinated then what do you care if I’m not vaccinated?” We cared about the anti-vaxxers because they endangered everyone else as well. Now, however, that reasoning is deployed to argue that vaccination does not mean we can return to life as we knew it.
No, I do not plan to immediately attend massive parties upon receipt of my second shot. I will still avoid the most crowded situations, at least for a while. But, frankly, I do plan to let my guard down a bit. If I am in far less danger, and likewise far less dangerous to others, why not relax? The purpose of vaccines is to enable us to enjoy life as social animals, not to serve as a backup in the event that social life accidentally impinges on our safe space.
Besides the social sanctioning of those who see the syringe as a key that will open the pandemic jail cell, there are also legal sanctions for those who seek vaccination out of turn. Yes, I fully agree that healthcare workers needed first priority for vaccination. If those who protect us from disease are not protected then the system cannot work. Nor did I mind that the elderly got next priority. We know that they are in the greatest danger, and age is easy to verify from ID cards that list birthdates. We lose little from this simple and sensible prioritization scheme.
I did not even mind that politicians and pharmaceutical executives got early priority: As long as there are people who distrust vaccines, we need them to see that the authorities pushing vaccines trust them enough to get the injection themselves. Indeed, the politicians with the greatest fringe appeal are those whom we most need to vaccinate in live broadcasts, as they have the best chance of persuading the fringes to put aside their follies for once.
But beyond that, we get to more elaborate criteria that require verification and paperwork and appointments. This might make sense if the vaccines only benefit the vaccinated; we surely want the first benefits to go to those most in need. However, the benefits of vaccination accrue to everyone in society (a point that was uncontroversial in Before Times). Instead of hiring more people to work on schedules, I would prefer to hire more medical personnel to wield syringes. After the most essential healthcare workers and most vulnerable elderly have gotten their shots, just get the shots into as many arms as possible, rather than making systems of rules to ensure that the vaccine doesn’t go into the “wrong” arm a bit too early.
There are obvious reasons for people wanting priority lists, including the pathologies of bureaucracy and our natural suspicion of cheaters. In a crisis the duty of leaders is to surmount these limitations, not cement them. Instead of punishing people who violate priority lists, just abolish the lists. Run the vaccination sites 24/7, spend the personnel budget on needle-wielders rather than list-makers, and tell anyone and everyone to show up as soon as they can. Frame the vaccine as a civic duty rather than individual advantage.
I say this knowing that first-come-first-served would have eliminated my own coveted Phase 1B-Tier 1 status as an educator. (P1BT1 in da house!) However, whatever individual advantage I would lose, I would gain tremendous advantage from everyone in my neighborhood and store being vaccinated. Vaccination is a social good, and until 2020 it was the pro-science stance to recognize it as such. So do away with the lists and rules, and tell everyone that the sooner they get the vaccine the sooner they can safely vacation. Vaccines are about social life, not solo benefit.
