Vaccine reluctance costing American wealth as well as lives

Some 622 people died of COVID-19 on Monday, running the total of American deaths up to 609,000, according to the latest update.

If you’ve become jaded to stories of coronavirus deaths, not to mention the B-roll video of a needle going to an arm, perhaps this will get your attention. If you have a half-million in a Dow index fund, you lost $10,500 in a single day.

Perhaps the market will recover today, but the Dow fell about 725 points Monday, a drop of 2.1% over fears the Delta variant could cause another shutdown of the U.S. economy. It was the biggest drop since the depths of the pandemic in late October.

There is reason for concern.

The U.S. is now averaging about 26,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, up 70% from the previous week, mostly from the highly contagious Delta variant.

Hospitalizations are naturally up as well, up 36%, while deaths have increased 26%.

Nebraska had 1,313 new cases last week, 10 in Red Willow County, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

States with low vaccination rates are experiencing the most new cases, Florida, for example, is reporting 20% of all new U.S. coronavirus cases.

Mistrust of the government and misinformation are the biggest reason so many refuse to receive vaccination, but simple neglect is probably a reason as well.

President Joe Biden has walked back his assertion that Facebook is killing people with misinformation and with good reason; the social media company has removed millions of posts of misinformation and lost millions of users as a result.

It’s tempting to read and watch “news” sources that reinforce our fears and prejudices, but trusting them with our health is a mistake. Yes, there are side effects with the coronavirus vaccines, and more will probably be discovered as time goes on. The fact remains that they are rare, however, and your chances of being hospitalized or dying from the coronavirus are reduced to near zero if you are fully vaccinated.