A very powerful message from a friend of mine about vaccine mandates:

[Sogo]

"As a 6 year-old who had polio, who was close to total paralysis, who spent nearly 4 months in a hospital bed plus another 6 months of painful at-home physical therapy, who had to learn to walk again & still has to "think" walking & who saw other young kids in my ward either go home to a lifetime of braces & crutches OR who never made it home...I wish the polio vaccine had come out long before. But I'm forever grateful for the millions of kids & adults since then who HAVEN'T caught polio thanks to the vaccine. To those who think freedom is NOT getting the COVID vaccine, stop to consider that the only reason you haven't been paralyzed or killed by polio is because you "had" to get the polio vaccine. As a result, you have the "freedom" to sit up, to walk & to live. That's real freedom you can live by."

[mopinko]

1. i have 2 friends who are polio survivors.

both artists for whom their continuing disability is a constant struggle.
both live in pain every day. both have to exercise vigorously daily whether they like it or not.

long covid will be the same.

[napi21]

2. The saddest thing about the no-vaxers s that they're making it political. The virus doesn't GAS

what your politics are. It's looking for any available host. All they have to do is listen to the many interviews of hospitalized patients who ALL say the same thing. "I wish I had gotten the shot!"

[lagomorph777]

4. It appears to me that the virus has a strong preference for the flesh of Republicans.

[calimary]

9. It means "freedom." Or in the GOP's case, "freedumb."

[sdfernando]

10. Its actually the other way around /nt

[lagomorph777]

11. Hah! Indeed.

[Timewas]

3. I well remember

The summer worries about Polio, I also remember a couple of friends who contracted the disease and recovered to be some what impaired the rest of their lives.. Another thing I recall is the day we all lined up in the gym for our shots, I do not recall any real dissension about it but do also recall the relief entailed in receiving it ...

[pansypoo53219]

34. there were a few back then.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

39. I'm old enough to remember the Salk vaccine coming out

The county health department gave shots to EVERYONE in my school. And every parent gladly sent their children to get it.

[Mickju]

41. I remember that also.

It was cause for celebration. It was a huge relief to me and my parents. We were all terrified of polio because we knew kids who were killed or crippled by it.

[Timewas]

45. Yes

I recall that day in the gym and the sense if relief I felt, I don't recall anyone complaining (although it probably happened)nor do I recall any paperwork signed by a parent to allow the shot

[Aristus]

5. Right-wing hate-media has weaponized the word 'freedom' to the point where it is essentially

meaningless.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Reclaim it by using it

Dying on a ventilator is not freedom.

Freedom include responsibility.

Public health measures are needed for freedom from mass disease deaths.

Freedom means defending the people from foreign invaders whether they be viruses or disinformation created in foreign military & counterintelligence.

Freedom of choice does not include freedom to infect your unvaxable neighbor who is a 7 year old kid on chemotherapy.

[wnylib]

36. All true. Maybe for emphasis and

to make it catch on more widely, we could just call it "freedom from disease." Or, "freedom from disease damage."

[Deep State Witch]

6. I knew a polio survivor

I worked with her back in the late 80's and early 90's. She got polio just before the vaccines came out. She was in a wheelchair, but was by no means "handicapped". She won my former workplace's Disabled Person of the Year at least twice. She had post-polio syndrome, but she didn't let it stop her.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

40. I had a friend in high school who had had polio.

Joe walked with crutches. Because of that, he had tremendous upper body strength. One kid once sneered at him as a cripple. Joe took the guy into the gym with a group of his and the kid's buddies (including me) and bench pressed 300 pounds. Rather than trying it himself, the kid apologized.

[3Hotdogs]

8. There was a family in town...

6 of their kids got polio.

I was scared of needles but I got the Salk without a whimper (I wasn’t gonna cryin front of Barbara that I had a crush on).

Then came the sugar cube… much better. No tears.

Im still afraid of needles but I got my third Moderna on Monday.

[HUAJIAO]

16. How did you get a third Moderna? It is not being offered yet, as far as I know.

[3Hotdogs]

25. Our county, Essex NJ is giving them to compromised

And elderly.

It is a third dose and not a booster.

[HUAJIAO]

28. Then what is the difference between a third dose and a booster?

[3Hotdogs]

29. As near as I can tell, volume of shot. Booster is 1/2 dose.

We are getting either a full dose of Moderna or booster of Phiz, depending on what the original dosage was composed of.

I believe that when the Moderna booster is available, it will be more formulated to the Delta variant.

[HUAJIAO]

31. I did see that Moderna is working on two things---

Moderna has requested FDA approval for a 1/2 dose "booster."

And they are working on a Delta vaccine..

[oldsoftie]

12. They'll say they support "real" vaccines.

And that THESE are some new plot against humanity. Even though they've been working on mRNA vaccines for over 20 yrs.

[Grins]

13. Oh gee...!

Texas Republican, Chip Roy, disagrees with you.

In July the Republican Congressman tweeted that his father, who had polio at age 7 in the 1940’s, had a tracheotomy that left a permanent hole in his throat, and later wound up spending months in a Lions Club rehab camp, thinks vaccines should be a choice.

I think the Congressman is lying.

I was a kid when the Salk vaccine was proven safe, and EVERYONE lined up to get it! It was that scary.

[Bev54]

14. My older sister's childhood best friend had polio and it still shows in her walk

We all got vaccinated as children, all of our children in my family were fully vaccinated but all of a sudden my sister has become and anti-vaxxer. Conspiracy theorist from too much time on her hands, to listen to the bullshit. I cannot even fathom how her friend feels about her, they are (were) still friends, living only blocks from each other.

[IronLionZion]

15. Not sure if there was much anti-vax sentiment for polio vaccine when it came out

Some dumbasses thought the cowpox derived smallpox vaccine would turn people into cows or some such nonsense. Thankfully smallpox has since been eradicated from the earth. Polio has been eradicated from most developed countries.

Mitch McConnell is a childhood polio survivor.

[True Blue American]

21. Mitch parents

Took him to Warm Springs yet he became a Republican.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warm_Springs_Historic_District

[central scrutinizer]

17. We've lost the family lore of childhood diseases

Too many generations have passed. At a family reunion a few years ago, people shared their branches of the family tree. Almost every branch had children who had died. One family had nine children, only two lived past puberty. As a child (born 1950) I had chickenpox, mumps and measles. Measles were the worst. Had to stay in bed in a darkened room for over a week. Big black scabs all over. One of the neighbor kids had polio and could only walk with great effort.

[True Blue American]

20. Measles could affect your eyes.

[tblue37]

26. I had a student whose deafness was caused by measles.

[True Blue American]

27. I lost my hearing

Due to Strep Throat. In a week long coma, penicillin was used as a last resort. Tonsils out. Most of my hearing came back, except in one ear. WiFI now solves that. Shows how far we have come.

Booster shot and Flu-shot Saturday.

[Mickju]

42. I got my booster yesterday.

I feel much more relaxed now.

[dhol82]

22. My mom came from a family of 11 kids. Three survived to adulthood.

[grantcart]

43. More significantly we lost the memory of small pox eradication

More deadly than war with 400 million deaths it was removed from the earth (sans 2 vials in Moscow and Atlanta) with world wide mandatory vaccination

[napi21]

44. I had chickenpox, 2 types or measles. They said there were a 3 day measles & a German measles that

lasted almost 19 days. I was born in 1943 & got all the different vaccines as they became available. I NEVER heard anyone complain about their kid getting any of them; certainly not in our house! I got all of them in first grade, before the vaccines were available.

From what I remember, people's attitudes were different then. Most everyone believed information they got from the gov't.

[PatrickforB]

18. Indeed it is. Well said.

I'm old enough to remember kids who had to wear painful leg braces that made them scream because they had polio.

[True Blue American]

19. I remember those God awful

Machines. They were horrible.

Getting my booster and flu vaccine Saturday.

[FakeNoose]

23. I hope the public schools will administer Covid vaccine to all students

... just like they did in the late 50's and early 60's with the polio vaccine.

I remember getting screened for tuberculosis at school also. They didn't have a vaccine but they gave everyone a "TB patch test" to try and catch the positive patients for treatment. It wasn't just the public schools either, I went to Catholic school in those days.

It can be done again, and Covid is reason enough to get it done!

[peggysue2]

24. Yup.

My uncle was a an adult polio survivor, spent 14 months in an iron lung. He had enough lung capacity left that he was able (after months of therapy) to use his diaphragm to breathe independently. He survived but his quality of life was curtailed significantly. He died 10 years later from the strain on his heart.

My parents' generation was terrified of polio, terrified primarily for their kids. As a kid I don't recall any hesitation or complaint. We children were gathered in the school lunch room from a line that snaked down the hallway.

The vaccine was considered a no-brainer, a frigging miracle.

The fringe-right that would have us pull vaccination mandates, return to the days when children died like flies are clearly delusional, anti-science and self-destructive.

This is why we fight!

[malaise]

30. You should send this to MoscowMitch

He is shameless

[KT2000]

32. Those protesting against mandates

do so without even wearing masks. That says it all for me. It is just party time with new friends.

[soldierant]

33. I was born in 1945 and

I had chicken pox and mumps, but was able to get the vaccine before I had measles, so I was spared that anyway. I knew about polio, and I certainly remember th sugar cubes and the relief (and the fear before the relief), but I never actually knew anyone who had polio. That probably says more about the area in which I grew up than it does about enything else.

Fortunately, I have never been one to fear or worry about needles. I'm sure I've stabbed myself accidentall with embroidery or sewing needles by accident enough times to be fearless now. I certainly have more faith in needles than I have in the needle-less air guns they were trying out in the late 60's.

[leighbythesea2]

35. My mom had polio at nine

Was year in hospital. She would agree.

I just didnt think in my life I'd see this kind of resistance to avoiding illness and death, by vaccine. When you learn about something like polio (in the past, but through a first hand account) it seems plausible we were thankful, and learned something critical about the powers of science and medicine.
Half of us did. Or more, but it was politicised, so now logic doesnt matter. Every day I am incredulous and sad.

[ChazInAz]

37. I had polio.

Hungary in the post-WWII years was not a good place for "childhood illnesses". It was a mild case, but has required lifelong exercise to remain mobile. Walking has always been difficult. As an actor, I learned to work around my gallumphing walk for the two hours or so on stage. (Wheelchair user Boris Karloff was my role model and hero!) I was even able to play Cyrano de Bergerac. But no matter how active I looked on stage...there was a price to pay afterwards.

[riverbendviewgal]

38. I wish there was a Meningitis vaccine on 1948

I got it in 1948, 1950 and 1954. I became deaf the first time. My sight was affected too. The first time the doctors told my parents I had a hour to live. I remember the 1954 time. I felt, at almost 7 years, that I was dying. I can still remember my hospital room and many doctors and nurses standing in my room watching when I was given a huge needle.

There is a loss of freedom being deaf. And I was bullied mercilessly growing up. It is an invisable handicap.

I was born and grew up in NJ.

I am now a proud Canadian. We have anti vaxers too but we have vax passports that in most places are asked for.

I shun anti vaxers even if they are friends.

[True Blue American]

46. Sign on my desk

Deafness has been a blessing. Saved me a lot of useless chatter and made me listen to the voices within!

[riverbendviewgal]

47. Very true

Not able to evesdrop.so don't gossip.