View allAll Photos Tagged immunization
However, roughly 1 in 3 people worldwide still view the vaccine with distrust and uncertainty. Instead of a safety guarantee, they see the jab as a new risk that must be overcome. And when we look at the countries, which have very different health care systems and distribution plans, different perspectives are beginning to emerge. Confidence in the safety, efficiency and general distribution of the vaccine is very high in China, India and the UK, and lower than the US average. It is possible that uncertainty among the public will decrease as more people get the vaccine, but in March vaccination rates were still very low. 17 percent of respondents worldwide say they have been partially or fully vaccinated, while 83 percent have not received any dose. And it's unclear when vaccines will be available to anyone who wants one. Nearly 4 in 5 respondents who want the vaccine expect to receive it this year - but given the slow pace of global distribution, this seems unlikely. In January, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) predicted that immunization programs for most of the world's population will continue through mid-2022. This is critical, as a slow or uneven rollout jeopardizes the pursuit of herd immunity in the short term. As long as not enough people are vaccinated worldwide, there is a risk that a vaccine-immune variant will develop. It is unknown what proportion of the population needs to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to induce herd immunity.
...to get our second COVID immunization and were going to do errands afterwards. it was raining and chilly so we decided to come home by the wood stove
and veg.
when we left the dogs didn't even budge from their warm spots.
boo, she sleeps.
I took the lid of my fermentation crock today after 7 days. the sauerkraut is excellent. we're still eating the very hot kimchi.
lensbaby
**I'm still feeling a little overwhelmed with life, and particularly flickr. I work at least 3 hours a night on it and still don't get everything done.
I wanted to purge all my favorites and start from scratch but flickr doesn't allow for it.
I also want to dump all my contacts and start over again.
cleaning house.
She and we got scared on July 29th., 2020.
She sneaked out of our house to go to the street fair where farmers sell fruits and vegetables, somewhere nearby, she was infected with covid-19.
Our small town tests all residents. Her result was positive for covid-19. She is 80 years old. She had no symptoms and didn't even transmit it to us.
She says she has taken every precaution against the deadly virus.
Almost 125 thousand lives lost in Brazil until yesterday.
Update of numbers:
on July 21st., 2021 - 546 thousand people died until yesterday.
PS. The second dose of the covid-19 vaccine was applied today, on March 30th, 2021.
PS2. Brazil has already immunized 35.6 million people, equivalent to 16.82% of the population until July 21st., 2021.
***
PS. July’s Explore takeover theme is…
How COVID-19 impacted your everyday life for inclusion in this month's Explore takeover dedicated to your "Pandemic Experiences." Do you remember the first photo you captured of the “new normal”?
The second dose of the Coronavac vaccine. The director of the Butantan institute said that CoronaVac proved to be effective against the Manaus variant, known as P1, and also against three other strains that circulate in the country: from the United Kingdom, South Africa and a last one that appeared in Rio de Janeiro, to P2.
I will be fully immunized in three weeks.
If I have covid-19, it will only be a mild case.
Blood will be collected for the third and last time to check my immunity (research) on April 19th. I didn't feel any side effects. Even today I will have the answer to the second blood collection they took today.
Science will win!
Brazil reaches 8.7 million vaccinated against covid, 4.13% of the population.
In all, 2,975,266 people received the two doses of vaccine, following the recommendation of the laboratories that produce CoronaVac and Oxford / AstraZeneca. The number corresponds to only 1.41% of the Brazilian population.
The bad Brazilian news is:
Brazil reached this Tuesday the worst numbers of the pandemic: there were 1,954 deaths caused by covid-19 in a 24-hour interval, with an average of 1,572 victims of the disease daily in the last week. It is the 11th consecutive day of record in the average of deaths.
Today is also the 48th consecutive day on which the country had a moving average of deaths from covid-19 above 1,000 - the longest period in the entire pandemic. Brazil has already passed a week with an accelerating trend in the average of deaths - today's variation was 39%.
The successive records consolidate a second wave even more lethal than the first in Brazil. Today, the state of São Paulo recorded the record of deaths from the disease in an interval of 24 hours: 517.
It is the eighth consecutive day with more than a thousand deaths counted in a 24-hour interval, the longest sequence in the entire pandemic. In total, there were 268,568 victims since March 2020. The five days with the highest number of victims occurred in March (the numbers do not indicate when the deaths actually occurred, but, when they started counting from the official balance sheets):
From yesterday to today, there have been 69,537 positive diagnoses for the new coronavirus across the country. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of infected has reached 11,125,017.
in from the field in the time of corona.
my daughter who is an ICU nurse got her immunization. whew!
.....on a hot summer day.
won in a raffle, he grew up in the "winner's" backyard. he was brought to our groomers and the they were asked to groom him and find him a home. he was so matted that they had to shave him down. he was full of ticks and fleas. they called us.
we know he was approximately 8 months old but our phone calls asking for his documents, immunization records, etc. were refused.
boo came to us from the canary islands via spain.
marina came to us from spain.
and louie louie came to us from a town 30 miles south of us.
they are all wonderful.
wind and water. lots of wind, less water than I'd like, but I can't complain.
marina at rest, in the sun, in between the rains.
digital with lensbaby
we ran around like crazy today, first to the grocery store to get ingredients for the sauerkraut and kim chi I want to make, then to the bank to deposit our stimulus checks, and to the post office. and after a very short rest, up to Eureka to get our first COVID immunization.
we're both tired tonight, and the dogs were ever so glad to have us home again.
life in the time of corona
This image paints my baby as a pretty, gentle pup but looks can be deceiving! This was actually taken a few weeks ago and he has grown considerably since.
He has finally had his last immunization so we were able to take him for a walk into the big, exciting new world he has barely seen. One of the things I love about poodles (and I will try for an image at some stage) is they don't walk anywhere-they prance.
And prance Harpo did as his paws danced across the ground, just like he was walking on air. There was no time to stop in case it all ended. He just pranced on and on as if he couldn't believe his luck and all the delights, waiting to be explored were put there just for him.
Earlier this year Avian Flu struck a flock of critically endangered California Condors. By mid-April, 20 birds (one out of every six in the northern Arizona/southern Utah flock) had died. The first sick birds were found only about three weeks after this shot was taken. Losing that many birds so suddenly set the recovery and reintroduction program back a decade.
Fortunately, no condors have been found sick or dead since April 11. So, for now, the crisis has ebbed.
The organizations which have worked together to reintroduce the condors had the foresight to consider the potential of contagious disease. Today condors have been reintroduced into geographically dispersed locations, the mountains of southern California north of the Los Angeles basin, the Big Sur vicinity of the central California coast, northern Arizona/southern Utah, and in the mountains of Baja California. This reduces the likelihood of an outbreak of disease threatening the entire population.
A bit of good news, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved emergency use of a vaccine to immunize against avian flu, which is being tested in vultures and will soon be given to three condors before proceeding to attempt to vaccinate all the flocks. That will be a monumental task but the people working to save the species will stop at nothing to protect them. And because of them, this condor can represent his species in echoing that song…”I Will Survive.”
Meet Yoshi
Yoshi was until December 2019 a feral cat who lived in the woods behind our house. Being all of 8 months old, he was an adept hunter, but would sometimes come to our patio and eat the food that we put there for him. When the weather started getting cold in late November/early December, we bought him an insulated outdoor house, which we put on our patio. Over the next few weeks, he began to trust us sufficiently to let us touch him, and even to enter into our sunroom that opens on to the patio. We noticed that he was wounded, had stopped sleeping in his house, and was breathing with great difficulty.
It turned out that he was being bullied by at least one large neighborhood cat who would come looking for him on the patio.
Fearing that he would not survive the bitter cold of 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 Celsius), we allowed him in our sunroom and closed the door with him inside.
Over the next weeks, we had him treated for fleas and ticks, got him all of his immunizations, and generally had him checked up. It turns out that he had something called a diaphagmattic hernia, meaning that there was a gap in his diaphragm. This had caused all of his lower intestines to move up into his chest cavity, severely restricting his lungs. We sent him to have surgery in December, and we were given medicine to give him, which we have been giving to him over the last three weeks.
We are happy to report that he is in the best of health, fully recovered, and almost ready to join the other cats in our household.
He has also become a wonderful housecat; friendly, warm, and engaging. Feral cats are not supposed to take easily to home living, but this little guy loves it!
Boeing 737-84P SE-RXA msn 35757/3192 Unicef Livery Norwegian Air Sweden Riga International Airport RIX/EVRA Latvia Riga(RIX) - Alicante(ALC)
Britannica. UNICEF was created in 1946 to provide relief to children in countries devastated by World War II. After 1950 the fund directed its efforts toward general programs for the improvement of children’s welfare, particularly in less-developed countries and in various emergency situations. The organization’s broader mission was reflected in the name it adopted in 1953, the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965. It is headquartered in New York City.
Acronym of: United Nations Children’s Fund
Formerly (1946–53): United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
Areas Of Involvement: education health child
Related People: Audrey Hepburn Ève Curie Peter Ustinov Ferdinand Léopold Oyono Sheikh Hamidou Kane
UNICEF has concentrated much of its effort in areas in which relatively small expenditures can have a significant impact on the lives of the most disadvantaged children, such as the prevention and treatment of disease. In keeping with this strategy, UNICEF supports immunization programs for childhood diseases and programs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS; it also provides funding for health services, educational facilities, and other welfare services. Since 1996 UNICEF programs have been guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which affirms the right of all children to “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.” UNICEF’s activities are financed by both government and private contributions.
Karen Mingst
The zombie plague had become airborne. Even in the Dark Age, some figured out a solution. Healthcare workers observed that masks stifled the plague’s spread.
Vaccines for healthcare workers to immunize them from the black zombie plague had not been invented. Viruses and vaccines were a few hundred years away from being discovered.
*Writer's note: The comments above are fictional. This is a photo I took from Louisville's Zombie Walk of 2019, where locals dress up as zombies and parade their zombie costumes. Zombies are fake. Vaccines do not turn people into zombies. However, scientists say that the real black plague was airborne. It was figured out during that time that masks help limit the spread of the disease.
Immunization Covid19 Vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 - Coronavirus) | Imunização Vacina Covid19 (SARS-CoV-2 - Coronavirus) | São Paulo/SP - Brasil
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Instagram → @luciano_cres
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Here's another scene from the Spring Grove cemetery/arboretum.
I wanted to tell you all that I have been ill the past two days, with the effects of the second Covid immunization. That's good, of course, because that means vaccine is working. But it laid me flat. I didn't even turn on my computer the first day after the shot. Last night I went and looked at all your photos and read what you wrote, but that's all the energy I had.
I'll start anew tonight, but my energy is still very low, and I might not comment much. I'll be back to normal soon, though!
With 123 years of history, Instituto Butantan is located in the city of São Paulo (state of São Paulo, Brazil) is the main producer of immunobiologicals in Brazil. It is responsible for a considerable percentage of the national production of hyperimmune sera and vaccine antigens, which make up the vaccines used in the National Immunization Program (Programa Nacional de Imunizações, PNI) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The production of health inputs are associated with the production of vaccines, antitoxins and antivenoms, and biopharmaceuticals for human use, exporting sera and vaccines for over 10 countries in Latin America and Europe. Nowadays, Butantan produces vacines against Covid-19, flu, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, chikungunya, whooping cough, dengue, HPV and rabies; serum against venoms, bacterial toxins and the rabies vírus, and monoclonal antibody anti-TNF-alfa (tumor necrosis factor-alfa, a cytokine involved in several immunopathological conditions as reumatoid arthritis and Crohn disease).
I was fortunate to be able to take photos at a branding today. New calves need to be branded and immunized at each ranch in the spring. This is the real deal - not a rodeo or a staged event, and most city folks are unaware that this sort of thing still takes place in areas like the Bear Lake Valley, Idaho.
In this photo a cowboy has roped a calf which is about to have its hind legs roped as well. I plan to post more of the action in the next few days.
Afsar Jahan (Black dress) and her daughter Saba Banu (blue dress) : Saba contracted polio as a child and is using crutches ..India has been engaged in a campaign to eradicate polio in India which target the high-risk area of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with polio immunization drives every 2 months. (photo Jean-Marc Giboux)
She had her first immunization yesterday and is a little subdued today. Usually, she is a little tornado. Kali is one bundle of sweetness.
The National Carillon on Aspen Island on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra lit up for World Blood Donor Day, 2016. Australian Capital Territory.
Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event, established in 2004, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.
World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day, and World AIDS Day
Immunization Covid19 Vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 - Coronavirus) | Imunização Vacina Covid19 (SARS-CoV-2 - Coronavirus) | São Paulo/SP - Brasil
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Instagram → @luciano_cres
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Todo un espectáculo ver en estos días como, la devoción, es capaz de inmunizar frente al dolor.
Tot un espectacle veure en aquests dies com, la devoció, és capaç d'immunitzar enfront del dolor.
Quite a spectacle these days to see how devotion is capable of immunizing against pain.
#nikonD85p #tamron70200g2 #robisa #nikonistas #semanasanta #nikonistas #ajuntamentdecarcaixent #nikonians #turismecarcaixent
10 July 2021: In recent days the figures relating to the coronavirus pandemic in Belgium have taken a turn for the worse. The number of new infections has been rising for around a week now and yesterday (Friday) the average number of daily hospital admissions rose for the first time in weeks. During the week from 30 June to 6 July an average of 697 people tested positive for the coronavirus. This is 81% up on the figures for the previous week. The total number of patients with COVID-19 that are being cared for in the country’s hospitals stands now at 250. Of those hospitalised 95 are on intensive care wards. The basic reproductive rate for coronavirus in Belgium currently stands at 1.09. Since a large number of people have still not been fully immunized against COVID-19 and since there is no reason to believe that the figures will start falling again in a couple of weeks the situation is very worrying. Belgium is not alone. The number of coronavirus infections is increasing across Europe. In the Netherlands, the number of coronavirus infections is rising sharply, with 6,986 new cases in the past 24 hours. The Dutch government announced yesterday new restrictions to limit the hospitality industry and live events sectors. In summary until a very high % of the population is fully immunized we will need to remain cautious – Bruges, Belgium.
On the main bed with a ruler, to show you how she is growing. She weighed 2 pounds, 1 ounce at the vet's today (another immunization shot). Taken by Edgar.
He said that God could not possibly be one of love, because the world had made him suffer.
Repeating his bitter and childlike murmurings, unaware or unwilling to be aware of the scope of even a lifetime of pain, passing like the prick of a needle in length of eternity.
Comparable to the infant being immunized, confused and doubting the love in the act of that brief sharp sting.
Today is vaccination day at my local doctor. Plaster for after the shot actually was waiting for some information, and just took 3 or four shots in mixed indirect light from outside.
Due to the short notice, when and what medicine, and the amount of vaccine they will receive, they schedule two days a week for this process.
But this is only the half-truth, typically the amount of vaccine will be announced on Thursday, Friday and Mondays are for scheduling, Tuesday and Wednesday for the shots. Monday - Friday is for answering questions. That’s the way with Corona or Covid-19 these days.
Not enough vaccines from Bionotech, Moderna, Astra Zeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and others, then there are huge vaccination centers, and at the moment there are more daily doses at your local doctor or companies inhouse medical service
Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris), no more than 8 centimeters, is easily recognized by its coloration.
Where they live?
They are distributed by the western tropical Pacific in areas of coastal reefs at a depth ranging from 1 to 15 meters.
What do they eat?
Both algae and zooplankton benthic invertebrates.
How do they reproduce?
Adults live in pairs associated with an anemone. During the spawning season the female lays 500-1500 eggs are fertilized and guarded by the male. They are deposited on a hard substrate, with Anemone, within the scope of its tentacles. With the continuous movement of their fins, the male will move the water around the eggs to keep oxygenates the developing embryos and prevent the formation of fungi.
To protect the eggs from the tentacles of the anemone, clownfish takes the eggs one by one on your mouth and rubbed on the tentacles to the mucus of these cover the eggs and embryos immunize the stinging substance.
Did you know?
All fry are males, being the largest specimen which becomes female death of the dominant female of the group.
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It was a very cold morning (3 degrees F) when I visited the Weston family at their Wine Cup Cattle Company ranch in Ovid, Idaho. In this photo, a cowboy is moving cows into a corral for pregnancy testing and immunizations. Black cows and glaring white snow make for tricky photography. The Westons are very friendly people and greeted us with donuts and hot chocolate.
PLEASE, NO invitations or self promotions, THEY WILL BE DELETED. My photos are FREE to use, just give me credit and it would be nice if you let me know, thanks.
Why is everyone upset about a vaccine passport, we kind of have one now in Canada! This is my Travel Immunization Record, it contains information that I have had vaccines for Yellow Fever, Tetanus/Diphtheria, Influenza, Typhoid, and Twinrix. Some of these vaccines are required by other countries to visit there and it also is protection for myself as the medical personal in other countries can see what I have had, if required.
I only wish that the Corvid-19 vaccines could be added to this document. When we get a shot an e-mail is sent to say we had it and the batch number, I printed it and have a copy with me.
meet squiggles! ...08 has been a tough year for our dogs...
here's hoping our K9's will have a better '09!
don't forget to immunize your dogs and get those tags on!
A composite artistic illustration of three empty beds inside a deserted sanatorium. On one bed there are three doses of « vaccin BCG pour immunisation des nouveau-nés » (BCG vaccine for immunization of newborns); they were produced in 1931 by Institut Pasteur de Paris. Vivien Leigh’s face emerges as an ethereal reminder of the famous star’s death of tuberculosis.
In the past, physicians knew their patients didn’t even want to hear the name of their dreadful diagnosis, so they avoided saying it in full; they used the “TB” abbreviation instead. Tuberculosis (aka Consumption or Phthisis) was uniformly fatal and contagious and a social stigma, all at the same time! Almost half the pages of many medical textbooks were dedicated to this disease, as if Tuberculosis were the leading star amidst all other infections.
Notorious failures ensued from erroneous attempts to treat the disease by compulsory bedrest, being admitted to high-altitude sanatoria, collapse-therapy and the like. Even bloodletting was once advertised for treating tuberculosis!
It was only in the 1950s that effective medication was introduced for treatment (streptomycin discovered in 1944, isoniazid in 1952, rifampicin later etc.).
“Bacille de Calmette-Guérin” (B.C.G.) is the name of the vaccine against tuberculosis; it was introduced in 1921, after being developed over a period of 13 years (1908-1921). BCG is produced from a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis. The vaccine can prevent some rare and extremely-rapidly progressing forms of tuberculosis (such as tuberculous meningitis and miliary dissemination via the bloodstream) in newborn babies and infants, if administered 6 weeks after birth rather than at the traditional age of 13 years. The BCG vaccine produces almost lifelong cellular immunity and, consequently, diminishes the diagnostic value of tuberculin tests (e.g. Mantoux) for the rest of the vaccinated persons’ lives.
BCG-vaccinated persons can be affected by Pulmonary Tuberculosis all right (and die of it, if left undiagnosed or untreated) as much as unvaccinated adults can. The introduction of the BCG vaccine in 1921 didn’t impede the spread of tuberculosis in the world; effective antituberculous antibiotics did in the 1950s!
Currently, cases of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis are very challenging to treat especially in immunocompromised patients. Modern-day physicians are less experienced and less familiarized with diagnosing tuberculosis either in the lab or in the clinical setting.
Mexico, 1960: At a UNICEF-assisted clinic, Concepcion, 3, wears braces on her polio-weakened legs. Three decades later, in 1994, the Americas became the first geographic region to eradicate polio. Today, the GAVI Alliance, which includes UN agencies, private foundations, governments and the vaccine industry, holds a pledging conference to increase donations for immunization programmes that will save an additional 4 million lives by 2015.
© UNICEF
To see more: www.unicef.org/photography
Also download the UNICEF Photography iPhone app here
Yesterday, I had to take "the kids" to the vets to update all their immunization shots.
When we got home, Vinny hid under the bed, Dora hid under the couch, and Ozzie buried himself under the covers in my bed, and stayed there until dinner time!
Moke needed immunizations and also is learning to cooperate with getting his temperature taken, having his teeth checked, and pulse oximetry.
Kudos to the keepers for their skill and patience.
screenshot from SNZ video
nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/gorillastory-medical-trai...
Sylhet, Bangladesh, 2014.
A health worker is administering polio vaccine to an infant during a regular 'Extended Program of Immunization (EPI)' session in a village in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh was recently declared a polio free country along with 10 other countries in South Asia.
The Extended Program of Immunization (EPI) is a nation-wide campaign to prevent six deadly diseases in the newborns. Almost all the villages and remote areas of Bangladesh are covered under the umbrella of this campaign where local people actively assist in transporting and administering the vaccines. The parents enthusiastically participate in the program and maintain the regular vaccination schedule assigned to their children.
Developed countries like the United States of America, where a significant portion of the population is against any kind of vaccination, has a lot to learn from this example.
The Pfizer vaccine finally is accessible here in Cornwall Ontario to frontline workers now outside of hospital or LTC nursing homes. As of March 4th, 2.2 million Canadians have been vaccinated but only 4.2%. Now in the USA, 72 million doses up to 14.6% population. In order to achieve herd immunity to eliminate the virus at least 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated, so we have a long way to go. Scary that testing immunized people reveals that the virus can still manifest in the nose as the antibodies don’t eliminate it nasally. Yet up to 95% vaccinated will have no symptoms from the virus in the body as the antibodies eliminate it in the blood. Unfortunately, it is theoretically possible that the virus could still be spread from the nose of vaccinated people similar to the 40% of asymptotic spreaders of COVID19. Therefore public health measures must still be maintained including masking, hand sanitizing and social distancing. Despite this, after 12 days of getting our fist vaccination we can safely hug our grandson!
Santa stopped by the office today for his annual check up. I'm pleased to report the jolly old elf is in great shape despite his advanced age (estimated to be 600 years old). However, the rate of shingles is on the rise and I convinced him to get vaccinated against it. The painful rash, also known as 'herpes zoster', will affect 1 out of 3 people in their lifetime (1 out of 2 over 85, and virtually all Santa's age). Canada has at least 130,000 cases per year costing the health care system 69 million. While the vaccine is not free, about $185 dollars a shot, it's effective at reducing the burden of this terrible disease. In particular it can prevent the chronic pain associated with shingles. So for all you baby-boomer's out there, follow Santa's lead, have a chat with your healthcare provider, and if it's right for you, get it!
Donald Trump opened a Pandora’s Box when he and the Republican Party politicized the coronavirus. When he called it the “Kung Flu” and the “Wuhan Virus,” racists attacked Asian-Americans. As a new virus, we have no natural immunity. But Trump refused to heed the warnings to social distance and wear masks, playing down the severity of the disease for political gain. Instead, he promoted fake cures and dismissed science experts. His acolytes followed suit. Rather than follow the science, right-wing charlatans continue to tout fake COVID cures. Only recently has Trump promoted vaccines and boosters (in part to separate himself from potential presidential rivals like Ron DeSantis). Other GOP lawmakers have privately protected themselves while publicly refusing to convey the importance of being immunized. And over 800,000 Americans have died.
People reacted with anger and pseudo-science theories when President Biden first appealed to Americans to “get the shot.” Incentives encouraged vaccinations. While these motivated some, it was much less than needed to reach herd immunity. With vaccination rates lagging, President Biden forced the issue with mandates for businesses with over 100 employees. And now conservatives on the Supreme Court have overruled those.
Adam Galinsky, a professor of leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School, recently wrote about the “psychology of regret” and its effect on vaccine hesitancy. “Alongside skepticism of institutions and experts, exposure to misinformation, and other often-cited reasons for resisting vaccines sits a clear emotional explanation: Many people are afraid that they’ll make a bad decision.” Fear can cause people to hesitate, no matter what the incentives might be. It may not seem rational, but many put more weight on the negative ramifications of their decisions than on any potential positive outcomes. They assign their actions greater importance than the consequences of not acting.
Ironically, this sense of regret explains why mandates have been so successful. When Biden first announced these mandates, the largest police union in New York City went to court to block them. They said they would lose thousands of officers who would quit rather than get inoculated. In reality, only three dozen officers ended up refusing. United Airlines instituted its mandate, and 99% of its workforce is vaccinated. This week they reported no deaths due to COVID. Mandates take the decision-making out of the individual’s hands. With the fear of making a wrong decision eliminated, most get vaccinated.
One of the most inane and insensitive protests over these requirements comes from those who show their opposition by wearing yellow Stars of David. Nazis required Jews to wear these stars with the word “Jude” at all times. Today’s protesters liken vaccine mandates to the persecution of Jews during World War II. They equate vaccination requirements with being sent to the gas chamber. At least, they say, it’s a slippery slope. They wear these stars as badges of resistance. However, Nazis forced Jews to wear them as signs of exclusion and disdain, signifying they were less than human. This false equivalent insults all Jews and their families who suffered during the Holocaust.
In June 2021, Jim Walsh, a Republican Washington State Representative, posted a video on Facebook showing him speaking to a group of conservatives while wearing the star. Posting on the social media platform, he said, “It’s an echo from history. In the current context, we’re all Jews.” We’re all Jews? During the Charlottesville protests, neo-Nazi’s chanted, “Jews will not replace us.” Now people are using the symbols of our annihilation to protest vaccine mandates. We’re tired of being used as scapegoats by neo-Nazis and examples of persecution by anti-vaxxers.
On November 14, 2021, anti-mandate protesters displayed the swastika and the yellow star in front of the offices of New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who is Jewish. Dinowitz has been a vigorous proponent of mandates. The crowd gathered to protest Dinowitz’s bill, requiring all students be immunized against COVID in order to attend school. Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rob Astorino, organized the rally. Assemblyman Dinowitz stated, “People are free to express their opinions on vaccine policy and on any issue, but I draw the line at swastikas. [T]o stand next to swastikas and yellow Stars of David outside of a Jewish legislator’s office shows a lack of integrity at best and an embrace of right-wing extremism at worst.”
In a hearing by the Kansas Special Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates, former Kansas City, Kansas mayoral candidate Daran Duffy, explained why he and his family were wearing these stars. “The reason I’m wearing the star is not to be offensive, but it’s to remember, and for everybody else to call to remembrance World War II. The Jewish people were forced to wear a yellow star to identify them as Jews. And they were ushered off to the death camps in accordance with that. There were medical tests; there were experimentations done on human people. And while this hasn’t reached that deprivation, we are definitely moving in that direction.” Despite his sincerity, he is oblivious to the insensitivity of his protest.
And, just this week, Ohio Republican Congressman Warren Davidson likened vaccine mandates to Nazi atrocities by tweeting a photo of a Nazi Gesuntheitspaß (health passport) with the text, “It’s been done before. #DoNotComply” He went on to say, “Let’s recall that the Nazis dehumanized Jewish people before segregating them, segregated them before imprisoning them, imprisoned them before enslaving them, and enslaved them before massacring them.”
People receiving COVID shots are not part of an experiment. The actions of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who conducted sadistic medical procedures on Auschwitz children, are a far cry from the science behind these vaccines. For over two decades, researchers have been studying mRNA, the foundation of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Scientists conducted vigorous trials involving thousands of volunteers before their release. No one forced people to enroll in these trials. It was an altruistic choice meant to help others.
Mandates do not force people to get the vaccine. They have a choice. Yes, it’s a serious one. Their lives and their livelihoods may depend on what choice they make. And there are serious consequences for refusal, like losing one’s job. Without the vaccine, they may suffer a horrible death or lifelong after-effects. Even if you survive on a ventilator in the ICU, your life may never be the same. The coronavirus is and will continue to be a public health hazard.
Our personal decisions affect the people around us. Children and the immunocompromised are at risk. Many of these “hesitants” are ardent supporters of “American Exceptionalism,” believing that God has bestowed special blessings on our country and its people. But there is nothing exceptional about this selfishness.
The exploitation of the Star of David is part of the conflict over racial identity politics. Many Whites are afraid of being marginalized. And the GOP creates false wedge issues that stoke this fear as a way of igniting voters’ outrage. They’ve been employing this tactic for decades. So why is everyone outraged? Because the GOP wants us to be outraged. Because their hold on power depends on it.
Since this pandemic began, we have lived in a world without reason. American society has devolved into a culture where many equate vaccine mandates with Nazi atrocities. Critical thinking is often missing. Jewish identity is just one tangent of racial injustice. White racists often invoke Jew’s supposed political and financial power for their hatred. We can often pass for “white-white.” But we’re really “off-white.” When White racial fears abound, Jews are targeted.
Fear of losing control fuels opposition to vaccine mandates. But anti-vaxxers are not innocent victims of a frightening mob with an irrational agenda. COVID is a dire public health issue. And resistance to vaccines, mandates, and fear of make-believe persecution does not make them martyrs.
One may object to mandates, but don’t use symbols of real suffering to do so. Signs of our persecution are not yours to appropriate whenever you see fit. It feigns solidarity with Jews. But, in reality, these protesters are using us. Until you see your family marched off to the death camps, never to see them again, stop using the Star of David to compare your fears and outrage to the extermination of European Jewry. You don’t know what real suffering is. Stop living your lives as if you do.
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Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2020 through a seven-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.