[NYT 영상] 죽음, 자유의 대가

영어 제목은 Dying in the Name of Vaccine Freedom.

미국은 참 복잡한 나라. 하나의 현상으로 그 큰 나라를 판단할 수는 없지만 지금 이 화면의 모습이 극히 일부의 모습은 결코 아닌 거 같습니다.

얼마전 본 글에 Masks became a front in the culture war. 이런 내용이 있었습니다. 사람들 간에 이념적 갈등은 얼마든지 있을 수 있지만 그 핵심이 ’마스크 착용’인 이 나라.

세계 최강의 경제력과 군사력으로 버티고 있지만 과연 얼마나 오래 갈 수 있을 지. 언제일 지는 모르겠지만 미국이 무너진다면 explosion이 아닌 implosion이 될 거라고.

중간에 나오는 쓰레기 같은 다섯 정치인이야 원래 그런 사람들이라고 넘어갈 수 있지만 영상에서 가장 충격적인 내용은 5분 15초 정도에 나오는 Only about fifty percent of the staff are vaccinated. None of the unvaccinated staffers were willing to talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd8P12BXebo

Dying in the Name of Vaccine FreedomIn Arkansas, many are choosing personal liberty over vaccination — at a heavy cost.

It’s hard to watch the pandemic drag on as Americans refuse the vaccine in the name of freedom.

“You’re talking about an unproven, untested vaccine that doesn’t even seem to really protect people, because people who’ve gotten the vaccine are getting sick.”

I went to one of the places with the worst vaccination rate.

“I don’t want a poison forced into me.” “I’m tired of you all trying to control us.” “One of the best things we have is our own God-given natural antibodies.”

It also has one of the worst Covid case rates in the country. The Ozarks.

“I don’t take the flu shot. I don’t take the pneumonia shot. I don’t take any of them.”

I wanted to find out why residents here aren’t getting vaccinated.

“You’re trying to mask these kids up. It’s detrimental to their health.”

And what, if anything, could convince them otherwise.

“Hey, Mr. Green, it’s Dr. Martin here. How are you? I heard you had kind of a rough night last night.”

Christopher Green is 53 years old and fighting for his life. Like 90 percent of the patients in this packed hospital, he’s unvaccinated.

“He’s just walking a very thin tightrope right now. And to be honest, I don’t expect him to get out of this without being on a ventilator. And if he has to be on a ventilator, I don’t expect him to survive.”

I immediately asked Christopher, why hadn’t he gotten the vaccine? It was eerie to hear Christopher insist on his individual freedoms, even as he struggled to breathe. Do you think other people should get it?

Christopher represents a genuine challenge. Do the American values of individual choice have to take priority over public health?

“By the time they’re here, what can you do, you know? And when somebody is in a room — really, really sick and can’t breathe and suffering — I mean, it’s just not a good time for a lecture.”

But the result in a place like Mountain Home is a 36 percent vaccination rate. And people are dying.

“Let everyone live their own life.”

I heard this over and over. Freedom. Choice.

“Don’t do it because somebody’s pressuring you to do it.” “Everyone has the right to choose.”

Almost everyone I met in Mountain Home told me they knew someone who died from Covid. Most people are undoubtedly concerned about the pandemic here. It didn’t feel to me like a QAnon convention. Misinformation certainly exists here. But a powerful force behind the hesitancy is this fundamental idea of personal freedom. But in a community where individual rights are taking precedence over everything else, you get endless individual reasons not to get vaccinated, like believing the vaccine doesn’t work.

A preference for hearsay. “He had heard that the people that were spreading the virus were people that had already had the vaccine and that they were carriers.” Straight-up fear. “How just people having reactions.” Even among those who overcame their hesitancy, there’s a lack of urgency. “I don’t really have any reasons to be out in circulation with the rest of the public. I just enjoy my dogs and work out on the farm and raise my koi fish.”

With all these reasons not to get vaccinated floating around, it makes it hard for those who actually do want it.

“I have a parent who does not necessarily support vaccinations. It was hard because she asked me where I was going. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to get vaccinated.’ And she was not very happy with that.”

What struck me was that Mary Beth had the courage to go against the grain.

“People should be more concerned about the well-being of those around them, because I feel like not enough people are thinking about other people when they make the decision not to get the vaccine.”

There’s an irony in someone rebelling against a culture of individualism for the good of their community. But voices like Mary Beth’s are drowned out by leaders who are contradicting public health officials.

“No. The state is not going to be requiring and mandating vaccinations.” “And I don’t believe anyone should be forced to take the vaccine. It should be your personal choice.” “These vaccines are always voluntary and never forced.” “We don’t have to accept the mandates, lockdowns and harmful policies and the petty tyrants and bureaucrats.” “We can either have a free society or we can have a biomedical security state.”

There’s no better place to see the impact of this political rhetoric than in the hospital. Only about 50 percent of the staff are vaccinated. None of the unvaccinated staffers were willing to talk.

“There are just a lot of people that you cannot convince to get vaccinated — patients, employees. It’s very frustrating. It’s sad. It’s — I don’t know — it’s disappointing.”

Just a few months ago, the staff was planning a cookout to celebrate the end of Covid. But instead of barbecuing, they’re now battling another surge.

“It’s exhausting. We’re all exhausted. We don’t have staff. We don’t have beds.”

One obvious way out is to mandate the vaccine. But in April, the governor signed a law banning government mask mandates and vaccine passports. That shifts the responsibility mostly to private entities. Vaccine requirements as part of employment, attending school or participating in sports are reluctantly motivating some to overcome their hesitancy. It seems to me that the only other thing that actually sways people here is being in the hospital.

“And I really am upset at myself because I did not get vaccinated. I just — I’ve never hurt like I’ve hurt. It’s made a believer out of me.”

This is what freedom looks like in America today. It’s always been complicated. But political leaders should remember that this country was also founded on the idea that government should protect us. After all, in a pandemic, one person’s freedom can be another person’s death.

Christopher Green died nine days after this interview. He was 53 years old.