Talk about cultivating a hostile environment!

John DePetro reports that the state Department of Health is encouraging healthcare workers to tattle on coworkers who remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 (whether or not they have acquired immunity through prior exposure).  Center for Professional Boards and Licensing Chief Ellen Balasco ends a recent notice about vaccination requirements thus:

Additionally, if you are aware of any RIDOH-licensed healthcare provider who is providing direct patient care to patients and is unvaccinated, you can file an online complaint at https://health.ri.gov/complaints/ or you can call 401-222-5200.

Presumably providing direct patient care to people who aren’t patients is still fine…

What people who are keeping their heads throughout this civic crisis have to remember is that a large number of their fellow citizens really do believe that the coronavirus is an unusually deadly pathogen, that the vaccine is a near-flawless medical miracle with few unknown properties, and that claims about gaining immunity after having already been infected are highly suspicious.  That truly is the world they think they’re living in, and they are behaving accordingly.

To be clear, if you are an adult who hasn’t had COVID-19, I believe you’re better off being vaccinated than taking your chances with the virus.  As I’ve written multiple times in this space, outcomes appear to be better and risks lower with vaccination in every category.  However, the very same research and analysis that led me to that conclusion also makes clear that most people have no problem recovering from infection and that doing so provides stronger immunity than the vaccine.

The fact that government and public health leaders refuse to acknowledge this reality remains one of the most mind-boggling indications of the politicization of our society that I’ve seen.  Forcing people out of their jobs — while there’s a shortage of workers! — and then calling for them to rat each other out is disturbing and incredibly telling of the way these people see the rest of us.

We’re not equals trying to work out an historically unprecedented situation.  No.  It’s responsible administrators and hallway monitors (them) versus no-good malefactors (us).