Day 562 Prevent Deaths – Get Vaccinated

Prevent Deaths — Get Vaccinated

Unseen danger lurks;

Known deterrent lessens threat 

of crippling disease—

Why unseen magic-

insipid allusion fails:

God-given mind solves.

Sheri Edwards  
092521   26836521  
Poetry/Photography

Daily Note

Every day, a photograph, a poem. I’m taking a class on writing haiku. Today’s prompt was “Challenge,” and followed prompts such as “Anxiety,” “Irritations,” “Heaviness.”

I have a heavy heart. People I love are not vaccinated. They are in danger of the unseen danger that lurks within and exhales from infected people, ready to infect everyone with a crippling and sometimes fatal disease. I worry. And I let it go. But it is a challenge that I cannot sway the beliefs and conspiracies and misinformation. Even saying I have a “heavy heart” is cause for distrust and dismissal of anything I may say.

I will say this: God gave us the ability think and discern solutions of truth– and work together to solve whatever earth seems to throw at us. So this disease caused scientists all around the world to work towards a solution, and they have found — with the gifts God gave them to protect the earth and its creatures — a way to diminish the effects of the disease: a vaccine.

God did not expect us to hold and wait for his help as a magical intervention; he gave us, created in his image, the ability to take care of ourselves and the creatures of the earth. And so some of us found a way to help: a vaccine.

And during the bubonic plague, as people went to the clergy for what to do, Martin Luther believed that we must protect each other and take our medicine. He wrote a letter in 1527 to Johann Hess, a reformation leader in response to all the questions.

What can we do?

We are, again, as Martin Luther suggested, expected to help each other and prevent the spread of disease and death:

• Take your medicine: get vaccinated
• Wear a mask
• Socially distance

Why is there this disconnect with truth?

A problem with so much information available online and in social media is that much of that information that spreads the most is disinformation, misinformation, and incomplete information. Often, especially in evangelical circles, it is spread by the very clergy we are to trust.

What can we do about misinformation?

There’s a way to quickly check the facts:

• SIFT: The Four Moves
• SIFT: Short Public Course sponsored by the National Writing Project
• New York Times: Don’t Go Down The Rabbit Hole
• Inside Higher Ed: Getting Beyond the CRAAP Test
• University of Oregon research guide: Fake News/SIFT

Be Aware: How is misinformation spreading?

Articles that explain the issues:

• The New Yorker: The Fight Against Vaccine Misinformation / Anna Russell
• Nature: Measuring the impact of COVID-19 misinformation on vaccination intent in the UK and USA
• Mother Jones: A Wildly Popular App for Churches is Now an Anti-Vax Hotbed
• KPBS: How Churches are Influencing Vaccine Decisions
• NPR: Religious Leaders Play a Key Role in People’s Decision to Get Vaccines or Wear Masks

Where do I get accurate information?

Links to accurate information:

• Washington State Department of Health/Covid-19
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ vaccine information
• University of Washington / Coronavirus / Vaccine
• University of Washington Medicine / Coronavirus / Vaccine

I heard even vaccinated people spread COVID: Get the Facts

Another bit of misinformation spreading around, and something worth sharing:

No. Vaccinated people do not transmit the virus at the rates or intensity of the unvaccinated.

Here’s some info from the Atlantic: The Vaccinated Are NOT Just As Likely To Spread COVID

Get vaccinated, please. Save lives.

I hope this information helps guide you in these difficult times for planet earth.

updated 9/26/2021 to correct misinformation about WHO spreads the virus

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