Prager and West aren’t alone in this behavior. Millions of other Americans are likewise jeopardizing the people around them. When pollsters ask unvaccinated people why they’ve declined to get a shot, 59 percent say that among other reasons, they don’t think they personally need it. Thirty-one percent say they’re “making a statement about personal freedom,” and 27 percent say they’re “just not concerned about coronavirus.” Fifteen percent say they’re “personally unlikely to suffer serious long-term effects if I contract COVID-19.” These explanations are entirely self-centered.
Eventually, the chain of transmission ends up killing people like Powell. He was 84 and had a disease whose symptoms and treatment tend to weaken immunity. Such people can’t rely on COVID vaccines, since their immune systems often respond faintly or not at all to inoculation. They need the rest of us, who do get robust immunity from COVID shots, to protect them by getting vaccinated and breaking the chain of transmission before it gets to them. That’s what Prager, West, and tens of millions of other unvaccinated Americans have refused to do.
Last week, West—a veteran and gun enthusiast—bragged on Twitter that his recovery proved COVID couldn’t “keep an old soldier down.” Powell’s death would cruelly discredit that boast.
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