People who have opted to get vaccinated against Covid-19 should be rewarded for their effort to help eradicate the virus and end the pandemic. So far, they have not. Easing travel restrictions and eliminating redundant Covid testing for the fully vaccinated would be a nice reward. But instead, the vaccinated public are still being punished with Corona virus restrictions because some people simply refuse to roll up their sleeves.
After recent drops, Covid-19 virus cases are rising in some areas and the data suggest unvaccinated people are directly responsible for this. Young adults lead the unvaccinated figures and it's easy to see why. Throughout the pandemic this group was reported to be at very low risk for severe illness. Their point of view is "why bother getting the shot, I'm not at risk". But this selfish calculus doesn't take into account how their lack of action affects the people around them and government Covid policies globally.
Most nations around the world have done about all they can to combat the virus. It remains critical for people to be responsible not only for their own health but also for those around them by getting vaccinated. In most countries, it's still an individual's choice to be vaccinated. Those opting out of being vaccinated should be made clearly aware that doing so still puts others at risk and prolongs economic and social restrictions. Influential people including government and health officials should work hard to counter anti-vaccination sentiment by being vaccinated and encouraging everyone else to do so. Dispelling Covid-19 vaccination rumor and misinformation especially on social media sites should also be of high priority.
So much energy went into creating effective vaccines in record time. It's tragic that valuable supplies of the vaccine are being wasted because some people refuse to do their part in ending the pandemic. It's inexcusably selfish for people to be nonchalant about getting vaccinated considering the pandemic's enormous toll on society, not to mention the lives lost to it.
