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Weigh your rights against your health

Minnesota is undergoing what health officials call a “blizzard” of COVID cases. Minnesota’s new rate of coronavirus infections has been the worst in the nation over the past seven days, and according to federal data quoted in a Star Tribune report. The surge has hospitals in the state near capacity.

On Monday, the state had 5,266 more infections to report, and a 9.7 positivity rate on tests.

Breakthrough infections are a part of the increase, of course, but more people who are becoming infected are those who remain unvaccinated. Some are resisting out of fear of possible side effects, others are resisting because it is their right to do so and no one is going to tell them when to get vaccinated.

The state is not telling anyone anymore. It is asking, it is pleading, for people to wear masks, to follow the protocols that were mandated last year, and to choose to get vaccinated.

Perhaps it’s because we don’t have real experience living under tyranny, but some people seem to regard the doctors, scientists and public health officials calling for increased vaccinations as dictators who are trying to control their lives, and they’d rather get sick on their feet than get vaccinated on their knees.

We ask those who view this COVID situation as the last ditch battle for personal rights to think about how that sounds. The government really doesn’t get anything out of you getting vaccinated. The only thing it gets is people maintaining their health and reducing a raging public health crisis.

Getting a vaccination isn’t like getting shackles and leg irons installed. It doesn’t surrendering any other right. You can still speak your mind, work where you want, live where you want, worship as you want, vote as you wish. You’ll just have a much better chance of being healthy enough to do it, and protect your family, neighbors and community as well.

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