My Body, My Choice #vaccinemandate #vaccine #covid19

I consider myself a reasonable person. The year 2020 brought with it not just the pandemic but the loss of my husband. I was in and out of multiple hospitals with him for months. I slept on the floor, in chairs, and even in fold-out beds. Nobody asked us to wear a mask inside any hospital as long as I was in his room. I was, for the most part his only visitor during those last few months. 

The staff at the hospitals were wonderful, except for the one nurse who decided to play God at Sierra Nevada Memorial. She decided because of COVID I had to go home. This was eight months into numerous hospital stays and eight months into the pandemic. Dennis and I had made a commitment to each other, if I was told to go home then he would go home, too. That was the day we went home and he died a short time later.  I will never forget the nurses power drunk face as she ordered me to leave. No mercy, no understanding, no compassion. We were the only patients in ICU at the time. The staff actually cried when we left. Even the doctor in the ICU tried to change the nurse's mind but she would have none of it. 

My heart sank when I saw this tweet yesterday. I saw Biden's previous televised speech and to my way of seeing, he appeared much like that ICU nurse. He might have said, tough shit lady, these are your options. Vaccinate or wear a mask. That was followed by video of a store owner asking incoming patrons for their vaccination card with a big smile on her face. I have often wondered how the German government got the Jews to wear the Jewish star on their clothing. Now I know. Psychologically speaking, there are definitely ways which I never would have agreed with just one year ago. 

I am not vaccinated and I won't be vaccinated, but I have already been vaccine shamed by someone I have known for a very long time. It hurt, really bad, but I support her need to not see me. She is worried I might infect her, when what she doesn't realize is that once you get the vaccine you can still get COVID, you just will have a light case or you will be symptomless. See Yankee's baseball story here.  The mask is to protect me not her but I don't have the energy to explain it all to someone who won't listen to facts anyway.  Another friend was told he/she could not see their grandchild unless they were jabbed. He/she got the jab. Another person down due to vaccine shame. Ask yourself, where will it stop?

As most educated people are aware, masks are only partially effective and at that only three layers of cloth stop the virus by 50 to 75%. That's a whole bunch of people getting infected. Folded surgical masks can act as three layers simply because of the way they are made. No mask bought for fashion in a store, is effective. The virus is too small for single cloth masks. Even poor Fauchi can't make up his mind 

BUT!

Then you have to consider what is the difference between surgical masks, throw-a-away masks, masks for fashion, and nurses masks and no they are not the same.  But I will bet you that you will find numerous medical articles that state that masks are completely effective no matter which one you buy and visa versa. Truth is, no one knows. We are all guessing.

So the big question remains: Why won't I take the jab? My doctor is not big on the jab. And by the way it is not a vaccine, it's like changing the root directory in your computer. Hard to find unless you know exactly where it is and once done almost impossible to fix. To put it simply, this is a genetic instruction to your RNA to build a little spike to fool the immune system into thinking any cell with a spike is to be killed immediately. 

Which is fine for most people. Just not for me who has an immune system on hyperdrive ninety percent of the time. I have several different autoimmune conditions and my doc is taking a wait and see attitude which is fine by me. Any life span I have after this August is borrowed in any case if you believe Stanford. 

I have always been a bit of a rebel too and I hate being told what I can and can't do as evidenced by my life story. Right now I feel pretty good. I am learning a slower pace to life, and if it wasn't for COVID I would have nothing to worry about except for grief. If the vaccine becomes mandated in California I will move. I have done my homework and for now, I wear my mask and I will take your mask-shaming and wear it with pride. After all: 

My body, my choice.