The Selfishness of the Unvaccinated and Public Health Threat of Glenn Youngkin

The same day that Australia rightly kicked Novak Djokovic out of that country, newly sworn in Virginia Govermor Glenn Younkin signed an executive order rescinding the vaccination requirement for state employees, thus setting the stage for selfish individuals akin to Djokovic endanger the health and lives of their coworkers.  In another executive order Youngkin empowered parents to refuse to have their public school children wear masks thus endangering the health and lives of other students - with five grandchildren I find this unconscionable. . (Youngkin also signed an executive order "ending the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, in public education," thus signaling that truthful accurate history that offends racists and white supremacists will not be taught in Virginia's schools). While nowhere as high profile as Djokovic, these anti-mask, anti-vaccine, ignorance embracing individuals suffer from the same mindset: complete selfishness.  The common good means nothing to them and only their own wilfulness and prejudices matter.  Sadly, Virginia now has a governor who has moved to enable and empower the selfish and those motivated by racial animus.  A piece at WTKR looks at Youngkin's dangerous and irresponsible executive orders:

Governor Glenn Youngkin signed 11 executive actions on his first day in office, including orders allowing parents to opt out of mask mandates in Virginia schools, . . . he list of executive orders and directives Youngkin signed is as follows, per his office:

• Executive Order Number One delivers on his Day One promise to restore excellence in education by ending the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, in public education. [never mind that CRT was never a part of public school cirriculums]
• Executive Order Number Two delivers on his Day One promise to empower Virginia parents in their children’s education and upbringing by allowing parents to make decisions on whether their child wears a mask in school.
• Executive Directive Number Two delivers on his fulfilling his Day One promise to restore individual freedoms and personal privacy by rescinding the vaccine mandate for all state employees.

Now state workers and parents od public school children will worry each day that the selfish and demented will endanger them and their children.  And this is ALL about selfishness as highlighted by a piece in The Atlantic that looks at Djokovic and by extension other selfish prim donas.  Here are excerpts:

After a dramatic weeklong fight with the world’s top men’s tennis player, Australia’s immigration authorities wisely decided to revoke Novak Djokovic’s visa a second time because he flouted the country’s COVID-19 policies. Although the Australian authorities and tennis officials aren’t blameless, this is a huge, self-inflicted public-relations crisis for Djokovic that has smeared his legacy.

The 34-year-old reigning Australian Open champion could easily have defended his title by getting a safe, highly effective vaccine that would protect him and others from the coronavirus. Instead, he, like some other high-profile athletes, has made a spectacle of trying to bend the rules—thereby showing that, besides COVID, the other sickness the world is fighting is selfishness.

Unfortunately, the tennis star is among the famous athletes who’d rather create chaos around them than get their shots. In the United States, the Green Bay Packers indulged their quarterback Aaron Rodgers this season as he misled reporters and fans into thinking he had been vaccinated. Even though the Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving cannot legally play home games because of New York City’s vaccination mandate, the team brought him back anyway—fueling some speculation that the team might just accept a $5,000-a-game fine and let him play. (Fortunately, the NBA probably would not allow this.)

Djokovic has enablers too. . . . But in no way does that absolve Djokovic, who brought a lot of unnecessary drama with him to Australia.

The media’s close scrutiny of his schedule and social-media posts also revealed that he had been attending public events in his native Serbia around the time in mid-December when he said he had tested positive for the coronavirus. That conduct might be more forgivable if his behavior earlier in the pandemic hadn’t been equally reckless.  Last June, Djokovic held a charity tennis tournament in Serbia that turned into a coronavirus super-spreader event. . . . Numerous photos and videos emerged of Djokovic and other participants maskless, not socially distancing, hugging, and partying.

Djokovic has been a vaccine skeptic from the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, and has never hidden his staunch opposition to vaccine mandates. That an athlete of his fame is using his platform in such a destructive fashion is bad enough; even more despicable is that Djokovic seems so comfortable exploiting his immense privilege to endanger the health and safety of others. It is especially insulting to the Australian people, who have adhered to some of the strictest restrictions during the pandemic in an effort to keep their hospitalizations and death rates low.

Sacrificing is what caring communities do—and it’s something Djokovic knows nothing about. As the top player in men’s tennis, Djokovic has a responsibility to be a good ambassador for his sport. But that, like Australia’s COVID rules, is just another requirement that he’s failed to meet.

Virginia now has a Governor threatening the safety and health of Virginians.