Column by former Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen: We need to sacrifice for each other
There's a story about a man stranded on the roof of his home in the aftermath of a terrible flood. A rescue boat comes to get him, as the water continues to rise. "God is going to save me," says the man. Later, as the water continues to rise, a helicopter drops a ladder to rescue the man, but he insists: "God is going to save me." The man drowns. At the gates of heaven, he asks St. Peter why God didn't save him. "He sent a boat and a helicopter," St. Peter replies.
We have been fighting COVID-19 for going on two years. From the beginning, every expert said the answer would be a vaccine. Lo and behold, scientists developed a vaccine that is very, very effective at fighting the virus. If we were at, say, 80% totally vaccinated right now, we could be dining without restrictions, attending games without concern, hugging our grandchildren without hesitation and generally resuming life. Our economy would be booming. We should be 80% vaccinated right now. As I recall, the first shots were available in December of last year.
What is happening is just plain wrong. Vaccines have been protecting us from diseases for decades. Why are people not letting this vaccine do what other vaccines have done? Unvaccinated people are going to ICUs and dying at a much, much higher rate than the vaccinated, here in Sumter and all over the country. If one gets COVID-19 and is vaccinated, the so-called "breakthrough" cases, he is very likely to have a mild case and unlikely to die. The vaccine works. These are facts. The evidence is not just clear, it's compelling. Does it make sense that a person who doesn't trust that the vaccines are safe will allow doctors and nurses to save them when they become infected, using government-approved medications and procedures? The vaccine now has full FDA approval!
Here's my perhaps too simplistic understanding of why we must get the vaccine. Viruses may not be living organisms, but they have some of the tendencies of a living being. One is that a virus wants to survive and thrive. If we had been 80% fully vaccinated by August, we probably would not be fighting this "delta variant," but that variant is part of COVID-19's fight for survival. The virus changes in order to "survive." If we continue to give the virus openings by not getting vaccinated, the virus may eventually develop a "variant" that overcomes the vaccine. We'll then "defeat" the virus only when about 80% percent of us have either had the vaccine, had COVID-19 and survived or had COVID-19 and died - unless the same people who developed the vaccine we have now can find an even more potent vaccine.
I'm hopeful we won't get to that point. If you have not gotten vaccinated, please do so now. If you have gotten the first dose of Pfizer or Moderna, please get the second dose as soon as it is appropriate; and if you've put off the second one, please get it now. If you still have reservations about the vaccine, please talk to a doctor about your hesitancy.
I believe that we have a safe and effective vaccine by the will and grace of God. Please do not wait to get the vaccine until it is too late to help yourself and your fellow citizens avoid becoming one of the grim COVID-19 statistics.
Sumter has many times shown what it is made of when times were tough - Hurricane Hugo and the Great Flood come to mind. We need to do it again, to work together and sacrifice for each other. Is taking a vaccine that has proven to be safe and effective really so much to ask? Maybe it is our rescue boat and helicopter.
Joe McElveen is a former longtime public servant. He served 20 years as mayor of Sumter until his retirement in December 2020.