I am vaccinated.

Do I think people should get vaccinated? I think there's a group of high-risk people who probably should. We know that for certain populations Covid is seriously deadly. If you're over 85, it's no joke. If you have any number of other health problems too.

That's true for other diseases and other vaccines in other certain populations. For instance, if you're taking up the hobby of IV drug use, it's a fantastic idea to get the hepatitis b vaccine. Otherwise, it's a personal choice that probably doesn't matter one way or another.

No one begrudges the general population for not getting the hep b vaccine.

If you're really super invested in making sure that every single person gets vaccinated, you should have enough self awareness to realize that there's a distrust epidemic that dwarfs Covid. You can't lie to people to get them to get the vaccine. It will backfire. Telling people things that are untrue about the vaccine, on purpose or not, is a great way to get more resistance.

Instead of browbeating people with heinous comparisons to drunk-driving, maybe ask, "why don't people trust the CDC et al?"

The answer to that question is that the establishment has been lying and CAUGHT lying dozens of times about this issue and others in recent history. At times, officials have admitted they lied to serve some public health goal. But as we all know, once someone starts lying to you, you start to question everything they're telling you. Is public health the reason they lied or are they lying about that? Whoops! That's the sound of your credibility disappearing.

A campaign to get at-risk populations vaccinated should focus on facts, not pithy slogans that punch down. It should probably not come from known, admitted liars and hustlers.

People don't trust officials. No matter what else you think, that's a big problem and you can't fix it by being smug or woke or bleating out phrases like "trust the science!"

For folks who think they're smart, this is really stupid behavior.