In Las Vegas, many folks openly reject COVID-19 vaccinations

reject COVID-19 vaccinations

Entrance to Dog Fancier’s Park, Las Vegas

After a half-year break, I started going back with the pet at night to Dog Fancier’s Park, the off-leash dog park near the New To Las Vegas world headquarters. It’s the largest and nicest around Las Vegas, with stadium lighting until 11 p.m. and bathrooms for humans. A friendly place, dog owners chat while their canines cavort. But I’m not sure I’m going to continue visiting.

The reason isn’t so much that in the age of COVID-19 virtually none of the other adults are wearing masks (one of the reasons I stopped going last fall). After all, since mid-February I’ve been fully vaccinated (Moderna, if you want to know). Federal authorities now say I’m good to go, with or without a mask on me or those around me.

It’s that I run into folks who actually brag that they haven’t gotten vaccinated and have no intention of becoming so. They are also sitting at the other end of a park bench from me that’s not really six feet long.

How does the issue of their vaccination status come up? Well, a la Forrest Gump on that Savannah bench, I often ask, as politely as I can. I suppose this might become the New Protocol of the coronavirus age, although in Las Vegas, at least, getting the truth is always a crap shoot.

On one recent night, the fellow in his late 30s on my bench told me the whole vaccination scheme was “corrupt.” He hadn’t gotten the shots and said he had no plans to get them. He seemed proud of this. His German shepherd puppy played happily in front of us.

I asked what he considered to be the corrupt element of the coronavirus vaccine system. I can’t say that I got an answer I understood. I don’t think he was denying the severity of coronavirus. He might have been making some kind of a political argument, although–officially, at least–all political parties profess to be in favor of vaccination.

On another night, my benchmate, a woman perhaps in her mid-40s, said she hadn’t gotten around to shots and probably wouldn’t. I asked why. As her white some-kind-of-mutt sniffed the butt of my dog, she said she had it figured out. Every day she was around so many people that she already had “herd immunity.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her herd immunity applies to a group, not to an individual, the U.S. was nowhere near that yet and her not getting shots wasn’t helping things.

One mask-less person I know, a man about 40 with a pit bull, told a friend in the park he was sure he didn’t have the virus and thus couldn’t spread it and cause death. I can think of nearly 600,000 reasons why that could be wrong.

By the latest statistics I can find, among the 50 states, Nevada has the 15th lowest rate of full vaccination, at 35%. While more and more states are reporting no new COVID-19 deaths, Nevada is reporting about seven a day, usually all in the Las Vegas area, and, on Friday, 267 new cases. With 1% of the U.S. population, Nevada reported 1.25% of the new cases, and 1.1% of the new deaths. To me, there’s a correlation here, and not one I like.

Overall, this squares with the cavalier attitude toward vaccinations and masks I have perceived in my recent travels around Las Vegas. In this Mecca of gambling, it might be that the locals simply have a higher tolerance for risk. It will be interesting to see how the numbers go after Tuesday’s official “full reopening” of Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, coupled with an ongoing big marketing blitz around the country by the tourism agency.

Meanwhile, for all I know, my dog wonders why I am just about the only creature at the dog park wearing a muzzle.

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Comments

In Las Vegas, many folks openly reject COVID-19 vaccinations — 11 Comments

  1. You forget about the 50+million that have gotten covid and survived, that’s how you people who got the shot think, such downers when more have survived it. You tend to not add that. Why is it????

  2. I was in the hospital for five weeks earlier this year, got vaccinated ASAP after my release, then stayed home until two weeks after the second jab and I was “officially” vaccinated.

    I have no medical training, but I don’t want to get sick — duh. That this has become a political issue distresses me.

  3. People are stupid, selfish, ignorant, they don’t care. But they sure care about Covid numbers coming down so they are free and can roam about their life once again all because of us, the vaccine recipients, that care about our country and our friends and family and neighbors And coworkers.
    It’s pathetic and sickening that they have their freedom because we, the vaccinated, brought those numbers down!
    Shame on you pathetic ignorant unkind selfish non-humans! Shame! You will be sorry someday..👎

  4. “The virus doesn’t protect you from the virus”, whaaa, huh?? So, you dispute the CDC, but you would trust the FDA? Am I understanding you correctly, Rene? YOU and others like you are why we will never reach group immunity in this country. Trump has not just championed but glorified stupidity. You deserve each other.

  5. The vaccine does not protect you from getting the virus. It is not approved by the FDA .

  6. Covid does not die at 70° and you can find that anywhere…. it would take extreme heat and they said that there is no proof that whether it’s hot air or washing your hands with hot water, that it will totally kill the virus, but they think it would take about 149° that would possibly kill the virus.

  7. 5% death rate for shots? What kind of hooey is THAT? Your other statistics are also (OAN) suspect. Obviously, your scientific source is Marjorie Taylor Greene, that brilliant Trumpist.
    I read a few days ago an OPINION that had Covid been a killer of children rather than the elderly, more people would have embraced immunization.
    I lost my husband to this disease, thanks to ignoramuses like you! Thank you to the author for an interesting “take” on the idiot never-vaxxers.

  8. John, I think the CDC 3-foot guidance is for schools. The death rate from the vaccine is nowhere near what you write. It’s more like 0.00003%, roughly one’s chance of dying from a lightning strike in a given year.

  9. I don’t believe this was written by a guy in the park, more like the newspaper. Honestly I go to the dog park all the time. If you know the facts about C19 you know it dies at 70 degrees! From CDC also the new rule of thumb is 3 feet not 6 ft. And it’s not transmitted by personal contact. More BS to keep the fear factor going. And there is no mandate for muzzle outside. Facts survey rate of void Is 99.9912. The death rate for the shots is 5.77 I will stick to the COVID rate.

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