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The Free Press, Mankato

Getting the COVID vaccine really isn’t about private choice or control over your own body. It’s a moral imperative that, if ignored, will create threats to everyone’s health and business viability.

And to top it off, you now can get $100 in Minnesota for getting a shot.

Vaccination rates in the Mankato that area nearing 60% means that 40% of the people are not vaccinated. So anywhere one goes in Mankato, a grocery store, a bar or restaurant, four out of every 10 people should be wearing a mask, if they are following the directives of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for unvaccinated people.

But as many a Mankato area resident can attest, there is nowhere near that amount of people wearing a mask in any locale.

So, that means the unvaccinated don’t know or don’t care about the health and economic risks they are imposing on the rest of us. They are allowing the virus to thrive and mutate and kill. Not good.

Hence, the moral imperative. Being unvaccinated and going without a mask is worse than drunk driving because presumably a drunk driver may have alcoholism and is somewhat unable to choose whether to drive drunk.

Maskless unvaccinated people are making a choice. And it’s not a good one.

As we have done numerous times in the past, we will debunk all the myths of the risks of the vaccine. It’s been tested and proven to be effective. It has FDA temporary approval. There is a miniscule chance of getting the virus if you have been vaccinated. It doesn’t affect pregnancy or fertility, and it doesn’t contain a computer chip to track you.

Going maskless and unvaccinated is a slap in the face to any business you patronize. The vast majority have signs on their doors noting you must wear a mask if you are not vaccinated. So by going into that business as a maskless perpetrator, you are not only a liar but also a thief. You’re robbing that store and that business of economic security and a safe environment for which they have invested thousands of dollars.

If you’re unvaccinated, wear a mask. It’s a moral imperative. Better yet, get vaccinated and lose the guilt.