When it comes to responding to the coronavirus, there are basically two camps: the anti-maskers/anti-vaxxers who feel it is a violation of their rights to be expected to protect themselves and others from spreading the coronavirus, and the masker/vaxxers who feel they have a responsibility to protect themselves and others from the spread of the virus. This dichotomy falls pretty squarely along partisan lines, with Republicans tending to be in the anti-vaxxer camp, and Democrats in the vaxxer camp.
As it turns out, most of those who are getting hospitalized and dying of COVID-19 these days are those who have not been vaccinated. It seems to me that these people dying of COVID-19 are probably mostly Republicans, right? Which means the anti-vaxxer message is decreasing the numbers of voting Republicans.
Is it logical to assume, then, that in upcoming elections, with fewer voting Republicans, the scales might just tip towards the Democrats in some close elections? I doubt that this is the intention of those spreading the anti-vaccination message, but wouldn’t it be interesting if election results started to be skewed by the pandemic?
Maybe the anti-vaxxers should rethink their position and start getting vaccinated so they can continue to vote for the candidates who will support the values they hold dear. Or they can continue to add to the coronavirus death count and tip the balance of power towards those with a view towards the common good. They do have that choice.
David Opthof, Lehi