After taking the summer off I think it is time to get back to writing about what is going on.

First, let’s state the obvious. If people refuse to get vaccinated (because they have rights!) which, by definition, puts everyone at risk by allowing the various variants of Covid to thrive, we all suffer because some of the privileges we all enjoy are no longer easily accessible.

Let’s say no airplane access. No trains or theaters or restaurant access. I know there need to be exceptions for certain medical conditions, but those people do not represent the threat that millions of Americans do represent because they don’t want to be vaccinated.

So, my solution:  Take away the privilege of doing things you like to do if you are not vaccinated.

Think of it as when we wanted people to give up smoking cigarettes. There were health costs that we all incurred but since we are Americans, we don’t ban smoking. But we do prohibit it indoors because non-smokers are severely affected. And, we see all the huddled smokers outside buildings engaging in their individual choice to smoke but not in a way that puts the rest of us at risk.

If we can do this with millions of smokers and secondhand smoke, surely we can do this with a vaccine that has proven to provide effective protection against Covid.

I realize in post Trumpian America things are more difficult. But since it potentially threatens the lives of many Americans, let’s just tell the whiners to stop complaining and get vaccinated.  We live in a country where the vaccine is available and free, unlike the rest of the world. As a friend of mine once said, “No whining on the yacht.”