Response to ‘Illinois Requires COVID-19 Vaccine for Students, Mandates Masks’

Response to ‘Illinois Requires COVID-19 Vaccine for Students, Mandates Masks’
The Reader's Turn
9/12/2021
Updated:
9/12/2021

These days you’re an “anti-vaxxer” if you have not been vaccinated and you’re a “mad-vaxxer” for wanting everyone vaccinated. But survivors of COVID now know they have robust, and perhaps, even better immunization to COVID than those vaccinated. There are also those who have health conditions causing them to pause before vaccinating. Neither group of people are against vaccinations, but they also aren’t getting the jab just because [Gov. J.B.] Pritzker is dictating it. These are the “rational-vaxxers.”

Rational-vaxxers agree that seniors and people with compromising health conditions should get vaccinated. But the rest of us must consider the adverse effects of the vaccines. There is much information available on both sides—some true, but much skewed in support of someone’s agenda. The rational-vaxxer is not just listening to the news or reading headlines—they are considering the credible studies and talking to health care professionals to make the best decision based on informed consent, before choosing vaccination.

As long as serious adverse health conditions occur from the COVID vaccinations, resulting even possibly in death, mandating vaccination is wrong. As long as large numbers of health care professionals throughout our country continue to rebuff attempts at mandatory vaccination and are even willing to leave their jobs, mandating vaccination is wrong. And, as long as fully vaccinated people can still spread the virus, mandating vaccination is wrong.

There exist legitimate bases for all of us to want to pursue further investigation into the vaccinations, to question the information being provided until we are satisfied with the credibility of that information, and yes, to even reject any vaccine protocol poised to be implemented. Enough of our rights and freedoms have been lost over this virus these past 18 months. It’s time to say NO MORE. I am saying NO MORE.

Annette K. Corrigan

Illinois