END THE PANDEMIC OF IGNORANCE.

• Author: Lueders, Bill
• Position: Senator Ron Johnson shows his ignorance by defending anti-vaccination advocates

There is a pandemic raging across the United States and throughout the world. It is deadly. It is pernicious. It has already killed countless people and it will kill countless more.

The pandemic is not COVID-19, which medicine and science are handling about as well as can be expected. It's the pandemic of ignorance that is raging out of control.

More than half of the U.S. adult population is now fully vaccinated, with others still eager to roll up their sleeves. But about one in five adults say they will refuse to do so, and about half as many more are undecided. The goal of reaching the 75 to 85 percent threshold needed for herd immunity now appears unlikely.

Of course it's political. More than 40 percent of Republicans and just 5 percent of Democrats have told pollsters they won't be getting vaccinated. There are about as many medical professionals who think not getting vaccinated is a good idea as there are scientists who don't believe in global warming.

Some people think getting vaccinated, like wearing a facial covering to reduce the risk of infection, is an intolerable infringement on their human rights. Some think Bill Gates is trying to inject microchips into them, so he can keep track of their fascinating lives. Some have doubts about whether the vaccines are safe, effective, or what God wants.

"Let us be clear, God damns every single one of those godless moves," declared James Altman, a Catholic priest in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to his congregation, while referring to public health measures designed to curb the spread of COVID-19 as "Nazi-esque controls." He also said those complicit in these "godless restrictions" are destined for the "lowest, hottest levels of hell." And his church's bulletin called the vaccines "an experimental use of a genetic altering substance that modifies your body--your temple of the Holy Spirit."

A private school in Miami, Florida, has warned that teachers who get vaccinated cannot have contact with students, and may be permanently replaced. Jessica Alexander, a white city council member in Temecula, California, has likened her refusal to wear a mask to Rosa Parks's refusal to sit in the back of the bus. And Tucker Carlson of Fox News wants his followers to harass people whose children wear masks.

"Your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid in Walmart," Carlson told his millions of viewers. "Call the police...