More people in NJ willing to take COVID vaccine

My daughter recently got both of the Pfizer vaccines in Texas. She is in healthcare and many of her colleagues lined up right away to get it, but she was hesitant. When she found out that her mid-February trip to Costa Rica would require a COVID-19 test before re-entering the United States, she rolled up her sleeve. If you test positive out of the country, you have to quarantine where you are for 14 days.

Costa Rica is not a bad place to be stuck for two weeks, but you're in a hotel with no human contact and she'd lose all of her vacation days back at her job. Her side effects were minimal and she seems to be doing well. Here in New Jersey the percentage of people willing to take the vaccine is up from just two months ago. We are now among the states with the lowest number of people unwilling to get the vaccine, at 17%.

The government, health officials and the mainstream media have all done a good job of convincing people that it's a good idea to get it, and it may well be. If you do some research, you can find cases of people having very bad reactions following the vaccine, including death. Some 285 deaths reported here in the U.S. (none in New Jersey), and 44 in other countries. The average age of those who died was 76.5, according to the Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System or VAERS.

Legendary baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron died at the age of 86, just 17 days after taking the vaccine in an effort to encourage others his age to do the same. Medical official say it had nothing to do with the vaccine and he died of "natural causes" in his sleep. You don't hear much at all about that story or any of the other deaths, but if you look you can find more info than is being pumped out in the mainstream media. The New York Times ran a story about a rare blood disorder some people developed after taking the vaccine. The story treads lightly around the details and does not mention any deaths.

I'm not saying it's not a good idea to get it, and I myself may get it if it's a prerequisite to travel out of the country. Just this week Governor Murphy said the question he and his medical advisors are most frequently asked is, "will I need to get this vaccine once a year like the flu shot"? The answer is, they don't know, and they may not know for a while. So, the question we all have to ask ourselves is, "do you want to take your chances with the vaccine or the virus"? That's a determination that should be up to each and every one of us free American citizens. Wait, are there any of those left here in New Jersey?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis's own.