Large swaths of America continue to live in a state of fear. Last year, that might have been warranted, but today, for the fully vaccinated, it has no basis.
I see the fear every day where I live in the heavily liberal Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. Random individuals waiting in line at CVS, who are presumably fully vaccinated, give me dirty looks for not wearing a mask. (The store near me recommends but does not require them.) Some restaurant-goers perform the silly ritual of wearing their masks to the table, only to take them off and look askance at those of us who don’t bother with the theater. Meanwhile, walking around the district, one sees countless people absurdly wearing masks outdoors or, occasionally, even while jogging! (Outdoor spread of the virus in open spaces is incredibly rare and would require extended contact, not merely passing someone by.)
Surrounded by these people, you might easily think we’re stuck in the spring or summer of 2020, a prevaccine stage of the pandemic. The fear is as palpable as it is irrational, and no, it’s not simply anecdotal.
Polling shows that a vast majority of college students, for example (at near-zero risk of death from COVID-19 even before vaccination), are nonetheless too scared to speak to others without masks or attend social gatherings. And a June Gallup survey found that 71% of Democrats believe people should “still stay at home as much as possible to avoid contracting or spreading the coronavirus.”
A glaring conclusion emerges from the data. Highly effective, free vaccines are available, but fear continues to consume millions of people, even many who’ve been vaccinated.
Why?
For one, media panic around so-called “breakthrough cases” of vaccinated individuals testing positive for COVID-19 has enormously undermined confidence in the vaccines. In reality, this narrative misleads more than it informs: What matters is that the vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “More than 99.99% of people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death.”
So, too, political tribalism has overtaken logic. Mask-wearing, social distancing, and other measures, even among the vaccinated, have for many become a sign of virtue-signaling.
All of this noise has obfuscated a crucial fact: If you have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, there’s a near-zero risk of you dying from it — and zero reason to keep living in fear. A new data analysis by the Heritage Foundation reveals just how rare and remote the supposed danger of “breakthrough cases” is for fully vaccinated individuals.
A new statistical analysis from @Heritage reported that if you are fully vaccinated, you are more likely to die from sunstroke or bee stings than COVID-19.
Stop. Living. In. Fear. pic.twitter.com/y4DlU2aHWx
— Brad Polumbo ??⚽️ ?️? (@brad_polumbo) August 30, 2021
Using the CDC’s own data on breakthrough rates, Heritage reports that a fully vaccinated person has a 1 in 137,698 chance of dying from COVID-19. The analysts then compare this to the chances of other causes of death over a lifetime. For example, the odds of dying from choking on food are much higher, at 1 in 2,535. Yet, most people don’t subsist on smoothies to avoid the danger of nonliquid foods.
Moreover, the odds of dying from sunstroke over a lifetime are 1 in 8,248, much higher than a vaccinated individual dying of COVID-19. And, perhaps most absurdly, the odds of dying from hornet, wasp, and bee stings are 1 in 59,507 — again more likely than dying of COVID-19.
That’s right: Vaccinated people have more to fear from sunshine and bee stings than from the coronavirus.
The situation is very different for those who haven’t been vaccinated. But that’s a minority of U.S. adults, and at this point, it’s a conscious and willing decision they have made. (Click here to find a free vaccine available near you.) The unvaccinated assume the risks that come with their choice. It’s not incumbent on those of us who have received the vaccine to hold back our own lives to mitigate the risks others have willingly assumed.
So, if you’ve received the vaccine, stop listening to the alarmist talking heads on TV or letting scary headlines cow you into self-isolation. Ground yourself in factual reality — and choose to stop living in fear.
Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is a libertarian-conservative journalist and a Washington Examiner contributor. Subscribe to his YouTube channel or email him at [email protected].
