By Kelly Hyde, Guest Columnist
I am a conservative Christian who loves Jesus and the word of God with all my heart. I also have worked in internal medicine in Cherokee County as a physician assistant for nearly 25 years.
I say that to beg people to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The evidence is clear that unvaccinated people are the great majority of people who are ending up hospitalized and/or dying from the virus.
The Sept. 15 Cherokee Scout reported that Union General has 43 patients hospitalized with Covid, 41 who had not been vaccinated. Those are local numbers that are not politicized. State and national numbers prove the same – deaths from Covid are happening to the unvaccinated 94-99 percent of the time.
I understand wanting to wait for evidence to back up taking a new medication, but the numbers are in. Vaccination works in the vast majority of people to prevent them from getting so sick they have to be hospitalized, or even die.
The obituaries are overflowing, so are the hospitals. We can stop this.
Coming from a Christian perspective, remember that in 2 Kings 19, God used the medicine of the time to heal King Hezekiah and prolong his life. God could have done it with an immediate miracle, but He used medicine instead.
That was God’s plan, not merely man’s. Many prayed for God to take care of this virus, we now have a vaccine and many are refusing it. Who are we to say the vaccine is not part of God’s plan? His ways are higher than ours, and so are His thoughts. We prayed. God answered.
It is terribly sad that vaccination has become politicized. This should not be a political issue, but since it is let’s follow that trail a bit. If the majority of liberals get vaccinated and the majority of conservatives don’t get vaccinated, who do you think will be around to vote in the next general election? It’s not the conservatives.
There should be conservatives lining up to get vaccinated for that reason alone. The vaccine does work, and people spreading information that it doesn’t are just shooting conservatives in the foot.
If nothing I have said persuades you to get vaccinated, then please do it so your kids and family don’t have to attend your funeral. Do it so if anything were to happen to you and you did die from Covid, your kids would know you did everything in your power to protect yourself from this hellish virus.
I realize many people get the virus and have mild effects. I also realize too many children are attending their parents’ funerals.
Please, just get vaccinated.
Much love, and God bless.
The writer is a resident of Cherokee County.