Wife Patti drove me to get a haircut on Sunday morning. (No, I cannot yet drive due to the health thing.)

I was immediately greeted and sat in the chair to get my once golden locks clipped.

Having gone through a horrendous week in New York City and at the hospital at Rochester General (see last week’s column), I just had to pry into my hairdresser’s COVID vaccinations. After all, the girls, and myself were required to wear masks during the hair procedures.  

“So, have you gotten your vaccinations?, was may ad lib to the young girl. “Oh, no, my grandparents got their shots and their boosters and they still got COVID, so I don’t really see the use of getting vaccinated”, she quipped.

After the cut, I left a hefty tip and exited with “Get your shot”, but I was not optimistic it would happen.

Throughout the whole COVID thing and yes, we are tired of the whole epidemic, that same excuse of people anti-vaccinations has been used millions of times.

Now, for some statistics:

A Washington Post-ABC News poll has found a startling difference between Democrats and Republicans as it relates to COVID-19 vaccination. The poll found that while 86% of Democrats have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, only 45% of Republicans have.

In addition, the survey found that while only 6% of Democrats said they would probably decline the vaccine, 47% of Republicans said they would probably not be inoculated.

The poll also found that 60% of unvaccinated Americans believe the U.S. is exaggerating the dangers of the COVID-19 delta variant, while 18% of the unvaccinated say the government is accurately describing the variant’s risks.

The study titled “National: Most Americans ‘worn out’ by Covid” showed that a large chunk of Americans were exhausted by the impact of the virus in their daily lives and the changes they have had to make in the last 20 months.

And almost half the respondents said they were “angry” about it. While 24 per cent respondents felt “a lot angry” by Covid, 21 per cent felt “a little angry”.

The United States began 2021 as a leader in COVID-19 vaccinations but has fallen behind dozens of other countries with fewer resources. There is a pressing need to increase vaccination: deaths and hospitalizations are rising again in the U.S. and Europe, almost entirely among unvaccinated people.

While the U.S. has about a 60% vaccination rate and while many countries do not have the supplies to do so, getting vaccinated, along with booster shots is easy here. So, supply is not a factor.

The U.S., perhaps more than other nations, has been profound political polarization and politicization. Simply put, the right and younger populations strongly feel mandates and even suggestions about getting vaccinated is a ‘personal choice’ and no amount of death, or spread is going to convince them differently. The FACT that not getting vaccinated only causes further spread and pooped up variants means nothing.

“The government is lying!” Actually, no, from the beginning it was suggested that wide immunization would hinder the pandemic and slow variants, but we don’t care. We will stand on rumors, speculation and social media to  develope our facts.

Unfortunately, we in Wayne County have one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state. Somehow, many citizens are proud of that. Then again, this county also thought/thinks, that Trump is god and regardless of facts, the election was stolen. They regard over 800,000 deaths attributed to COVID as a fluke.

As of December 14, a total of 800,343 people have died in the country since the start of the pandemic, while 50,233,338 infections have been reported, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University.

I can’t tell you how many people attempt to negate that fact by adding: “There were other factors that can account for those deaths, such as heart disease, overweight, age, general poor health to start with...

What they don’t accept is that even in vehicle  fatalities, the same can be said. “He died of massive hemorrhaging, but honestly, he was in poor health before the crash”.

You want to see an end to this COVID thing? You are tired of the news reports surrounding COVID? Begin using logic, your head.