I recently got my second Covid booster. When I scheduled it, I put out a quick Twitter poll to see whether others were getting a second booster or not. My results were:
- 43.6% had already had their 2nd booster.
- 46.2% were not yet eligible.
- 7.7% were unsure they wanted to do it. (Actual response: “Meh, not sure I will.”)
- 2.6% said they would never do it. (Actual response: “Never! I live on the edge!”)
Admittedly, I went longer than I had to for this second booster, mostly because when I got Covid last fall, it wasn’t that bad except losing my sense of taste & smell for five days which resulted in me clearing out a bunch of undesirable stuff from the freezer that would otherwise just continue to be uneaten. I also found that my booster shot made me tired the day I did it, and while that wasn’t unpleasant, it just felt like a pain. I was also kind of waiting to see if there would be a new version that is more effective against these latest strains.
What got me over the line was several family members who got it (all of whom live far from me, so this wasn’t an exposure concern), then Biden getting it, Manchin getting it, and seeing cases rise in the UK when I was toying with the idea of a trip to North England in early fall / late summer. Plus, I just figured why not. My previous booster was over six months ago. Two of our employees have had it in recent months, one bad enough to go to the ER over it. Even if it doesn’t really make me sick, others have had some serious illness as a result.
So I thought I’d get a quick roundup of our readers to see where you all fall in the Covid demographics. First, let’s start with a basic one.
I’ve been surprised at how many people I know who have still never had it, or who just got it for the first time recently, but the number I know who have never had it is probably on par with the number who’ve had it twice. I only know one person (in the UK) who has had it three times.
We’ve established personal experience with Covid, and to an extent, natural immunity. Next, let’s find out about vaccines & boosters.
Let’s be honest. Covid has mostly been declared to be “over” in American culture if not in reality. At Church is no exception. Let’s talk about the Church’s response to Covid in your area, and how you feel / felt about that.
There’s been a lot of hay made about the number of Church members who either quit coming to Church or dialed back their observance and/or participation. Based on my own observation, that totally happened. Were you part of the “Covid Exit”?
Discuss.
Wheat & Tares 
My in person attendance at Sunday meetings has varied, during the omicron surge I switched to zoom attendance but went back once that was receding.
My ward has not had the mass drop in attendance connected to Covid (or connected to return to in-person church) that some others have spoken of on here and other parts of the Bloggernacle (is that still a thing?). For the most part, the people who attended before came back the moment in-person church returned, and, though we still have a Zoom option, it seems to be limited to those who are either sick or extremely vulnerable (e.g., elderly transplant recipient). However, we have definitely had a drop in attendance due to folks moving out and no one moving in to replace them which is fairly unusual where we live (the greater Washington, D.C. area), and I have to wonder if the growing tide of resignations is starting to take a noticeable toll on the Church at large.
Attendance gas declined about 10% in my area, including some who were fully active when the pandemic began.
So I am not sure what counts as vaccinated rather than boosted in this poll. I’ve been jabbed three times. Here it’s the third jab that counts as the first booster. And as I am over fifty I will be eligible for a further booster jab in the autumn, though my mother being over 75 got an extra booster jab in the spring, and will get another in the autumn. In each case I got the jabs as soon as I was eligible. I have also had Covid twice (I think). The first time was likely the alpha strain, February 2021 before I was eligible for a vaccine. My symptoms were not the three symptoms that would have enabled me to book a test here in the UK at the time. In order to book a test I would have been required to have one or more of a new continuous cough, a fever, or loss of taste or smell. What I had was weird rashes on my legs spreading to my feet, flu-like aches, tiredness and palpitations. We isolated for the required two weeks anyway, by which time the rashes had cleared and I felt better. The second occasion was Christmas 2021, and most likely the then new Omicron variant just two weeks after my third jab. Oldest child had gone to London in connection with their employment at the time it was circulating, and picked it up there. They suffered quite badly with severe laryngitis and fever, whilst I had a mild sore throat and a bit of a cold. My husband who hadn’t yet had his third jab was sicker than me, but not so bad as our eldest. So we were isolating for Christmas.
Lots of people we know are still getting sick for all the attitude in Britain now seems to be one of more or less assuming it’s over.
One problem with the way the UK handled the outbreak, was to consistently lock down too late, so that underlying infection rates remained quite high, and lockdowns lasted longer.
I still wear a mask on public transport, and in the supermarket. As much to reduce the risk of my possibly passing on infection, as to reduce the chances of getting it.
Our ward are still providing a Zoom option, but those wanting to attend via Zoom need approval from the bishop. We’re some of the few members still wearing masks. Masks and gloves are still worn by those handling the sacrament. However a couple of weeks ago the bread went back to being dispensed in the normal tray instead of pieces individually placed in the water cups. Most seating is back to normal, though there are a couple of shorter rows taken out of use to allow for spacing for a few people who may still prefer it.
Neither I (70+) nor my wife (65+) have had Covid. We are both doubly boosted. I suspect in time it will be found that some people have a natural immunity or body chemistry that enables them to avoid Covid. I waited longer than I had to for 2nd booster on the assumption that boosters have a limited time life or effectiveness and the possibly wrong belief that risk of getting Covid is less in summer than fall or winter.
I enjoyed Church in the early days of the pandemic: no in-person Church, no Zoom, not anything. Just me, my family, and whatever topic that we felt prompted to discuss. As long as we incorporated the sacrament, we just did anything on a whim. Some days we would analyze a chosen conference talk, and other days we would go to a nature park and “consider the lilies.” We even went to the beach in the Outer Banks because it served as the perfect backdrop to tell the story of Jesus walking on water.
Of course, I get the point of worshipping with less-than-perfect members every Sunday, but with Sunday being a day of rest, I can’t think of anything more restful than not dealing with hundreds of other people in a cramped space.
Not a cougar: I have similarly seen a larger drop in attendance due to people moving out than people no longer attending. I’ve been wondering if people aren’t using a move as a convenient time to step away from attending.
It’s worth remembering that many people are not eligible to get a second booster at this point. (I’m in that category.)
I marked ‘no change’ on my church participation which is accurate for the question as asked, but my faith in the community is definitely lower than it was pre-pandemic. All the acrimony and division was likely there before the pandemic, I think I was just more ignorant of how divided we were. My stake presidency and bishop did a passable job of taking steps to reduce transmission, and I think they did a very good job of not passing judgement on folks who didn’t find those steps sufficient. I did however have an EQP that was simply unable to stop himself from regularly making it clear to those around him that he thought this whole thing was silly.
At this point, my ward still broadcasts sacrament meeting. I have no idea how many people use it. A few people still wear masks at church. The priests are better about washing their hands. Those are the only indications that COVID ever happened.
Hedgehog: Here, first two shots = original vaccination, then yes, your third shot is your first “booster” (half dose), and your fourth shot is your second “booster” (also half dose). Second boosters here have been available for many months, but a lot of people just haven’t bothered. Also the guidelines depend a little on which original shot you got. If Pfizer (like me), you have to be 50+, but if J&J, all adults are eligible for a second booster. Anyone immunocompromised is also eligible.
I checked “other” above because I felt the Church wasn’t strong enough in pushing vaccines and masks, and I was also totally disappointed in my ward and stake leaders, who didn’t even read the First Presidency’s email in sacrament meeting. I was also very disappointed in my ward’s response, which was basically to ignore the prophet. Maybe 50 percent wore masks after the email, but that dropped rapidly.
My wife had Covid which turned into long Covid before vaccines were available. Really really sucked. Two years later she’s about 95% recovered but still gets tired more easily than before. I was called to a stake calling and accepted with the caveat I would only attend over Zoom. However on my second Sunday the SP changed his mind and asked me to attend in person. I was annoyed but ultimately decided to go in person because I’d slept in the same bed as my wife but never got Covid and figured I’d be ok.
Overall I’m pleased that the Q15 and my Stake President took Covid seriously and supported masks. However my home ward and bishop didn’t support masks which seriously angered me. I attended the Spanish branch where *everyone* wore masks and my wife didn’t attend her ward because of long Covid, so I kind of sidestepped the ward mask issue. Interestingly, the Spanish Branch was super diligent with masks but didn’t trust vaccines. Or maybe there was some fear of immigration laws, idk.
Related, in theory Maricopa county this summer was mandated by the CDC to wear masks indoors because of a Covid surge here. Arizona is counter cyclical from much of the rest of the country – we spend time indoors in the summer and outdoors in the winter. I haven’t heard a single local church statement asking us to wear masks again even tho I do see it on signs posted at store entrances. To be fair now that I’m vaxed and boosted, I didn’t consider wearing masks indoors even though I was adamant before, and often used the excuse that the CDC would know how to respond.
The problem with church Covid-19 policy had to do with signaling. In a worldwide multi-billion-dollar institution, times of triage require institutions to collectively determine policy. Naturally, the institution of the Restored Church did its part to participate in collective institutional policy measures. This was appropriate. What was not appropriate was how LDS interpreted institutional signaling. The Prophet’s signaling for the “institution” is not a signaling for the “congregation.” The division between (1) antivax, (2) provax, (3) antimandate, and (4) promandate, is considerable and was never properly articulated.
Now here is the future problem: plenty of data points to vaccine being “safe,” but not “healthy.” Like McDonalds is safe, but not healthy. Data points to curious gene-patent sequences as a consequence of the mechanism of some of the available Covid-19 vaccines. Data point to cellular damage, protein damage, and many of the conditions that harvest cancer. In addition, reproductive issues in both sexes are reported, and some analysts predict decrease in aggregate birth rates for those that took the vaccine.
Here’s the question: what if we find out that the rushed-vaccines cause harm? What if new data say something that proves some—not all—of the vaccine versions to cause long-term health or reproductive issues? Then what?
Would such information trigger apostasy? Did you get vaccinated because you interpreted the call from the Prophet as a command? Would you have chosen to vaccinate if the Prophet was quiet on the issue? Particularly disturbing is that BYU campuses (particularly BYUH) have the strictest Covid-19 policies in the nation, and married students widely report reproductive problems after receiving the vaccine. Worse case scenario—that we learn that some versions of the vaccine cause reproductive harm—what will be the response of leadership?
Personal experiences and observations:
*I am vaccinated and double boosted. No Covid infection thus far. We live reasonably. Go out to eat on occasion, go to the store and go to the theater. We pick times when we think foot traffic will be lighter.
*I thought the general church’s advice and direction was on point for the most part. Science-based and organizationally responsible, but the church could have done more to push out persuasive information to help members understand the science and the doctrine of free agency, and push back explicitly against alternative voices inside and out of the church.
*My local church turfed it. In fact, I’ll assert that I never would have guessed my stake presidency was as weak as it proved to be. They displayed no leadership. Took no position. Offered very little communication. Their inaction was a total embarrassment, even after one of the counselors became ill early on and nearly died. He spent time in intensive care, and has permanent heart damage as a result. He was otherwise young and healthy. Still, nothing. The unofficial message was members should do what they feel comfortable doing. Maybe 15% of members were masked after we reassembled post the national quarantine.
*The stake and wards proved to be completely flaccid against a tide of misinformation that gushed from anti-vaxxers and a hive of DezNat members who lurked in dark corners in my stake. Mainstream members were perverting the theology of free agency so badly to justify their lack of compliance to the church’s masking and social distancing instructions…and yet not a single response from the stake or my ward. None. No high councilmen were dispatched with instructions to give talks on the subject of free agency to clarify the doctrine. They just pretended nothing was happening. Move along, nothing here to see.
*My own ward’s elders quorum president said to me during one phone exchange early on in the pandemic that economic considerations should drive all decisions, and, after all, old people have to die sometime. Spoken like a 32-year-old who has never experienced loss. I was dumbfounded.
*Conversations in my household with my youngest who was 16 at the time about church leadership effectiveness were hard enough. After all of this, it was hopeless. I mean there is no defense.
DID THE PANDEMIC AFFECT YOUR CHURCH PARTICIPATION?
Well this is the money question isn’t it. The simple answer is yes. The pandemic served as one of two final trigger variables for our household. We have a family member who is immunocompromised. After the quarantine, we attended for a short time until Covid revived itself. With members flouting the general church’s health directives, a we stopped attending altogether. Our lives improved. I can’t tell you how much stress just lifted. We never realized how much more negative weight the church added to our lives.
My kids did not thrive in the church over a period of years. They are all curious and open-minded. They understand morality, are compassionate, rational and well read. In short, they are good people who spend a lot of time help others. They spend their spare time engaged in meaningful community service, none of which was valued or recognized by their ward leaders. All of my children decided not to attend BYU, and two of them have or are attending prestigious universities out-of-state. My youngest daughter’s academic achievements are particularly noteworthy. Yet instead of being congratulated and recognized as an example of hard work and service, she was warned by her leaders that going to an out of state liberal school would ruin her. Mind boggling to me. That’s all they had to offer.
At that time, we lived in a Wasatch Front Mormon community. We have since moved out of Utah and our records have not caught up to us, thankfully. Half my kids have moved on…dare I say to bigger and better things religiously? They are keenly focused on working to make the world a better place and tackling the big problems we face. Yet the church has chose to be dim and narrow and they have decided to stop trying to squeeze down to fit. And frankly, with a family member who is gay, Elder Holland’s BYU talk was the proverbial straw (the second trigger variable I noted). Holland’s talk further galvanized our family. We gathered and decided we simply would not financially support the church any longer. Half my kids are walking away. Half, the older ones, like the church but long for it to be something else. My wife and I are taking a break and have put ourselves in a holding pattern. For now we’ll explore worshipping with a different congregation of believers. It’s a little heartbreaking to me because I think the church could be so much more, but it seems the disappointments just keep pilling up.
I was attending before COVID mostly on momentum and the “hope” that “the community” was enough for my daughters and myself. I felt like a closet heretic/apostate who didn’t belong there (but I hid it anyways). The “community” was not built to give my oldest the support she needed for a variety of reasons – but it’s not really about the community (they were trying and sincere) – she just didn’t want/couldn’t use what they had to give to her.
The COVID break took away the momentum and gave me a chance to see what it “cost” me in terms of personal and family resources.
Travis, I would like to see some references supporting your suggestions that covid vaccines cause the problems you list. Otherwise it is irresponsible, misinformative garbage.
COVID ATTENDENCE
I was attending before COVID mostly on momentum and the “hope” that “the community” was enough for my daughters and myself.
* I felt like a closet heretic/apostate who didn’t belong there (but I hid it anyways). I also didn’t really “belong” because I didn’t do the gender socially acceptable things to the degree that I felt was required by the community. I didn’t “say the right things the right way” or “dress the right way” and always felt “off” even when on the surface I was “saying and doing” everything the “right way” – it was for secretly the “wrong” reasons.
* The “community” was not built to give my oldest the support she needed for a variety of reasons – but it’s not really about the community (they were trying and sincere) – she just didn’t want/couldn’t use what they had to give to her.
The COVID break took away the momentum and gave me a chance to see what it “cost” me in terms of personal and family resources.
LOCAL REACTION
There was a fair amount of tension between the maskers/anti-maskers in our area (I heard about it 2nd hand). There were masking guidelines put out at the stake and local levels in social media that I saw.
* We are in the rural Midwest, so anti-masking was more of a norm then masking.
I didn’t stick around to ask about the vaccination theoretical battle lines – but I don’t doubt that there weren’t battle lines.
I’m vaxxed & boosted but I honestly don’t know eligibility rules for the second booster. I should look at that. I’ve also had covid, twice, both after being vaxxed and boosted. But it was not severe — the only reason I even took a test was in an abundance of caution. I thought it was allergies.
I thought the SLC Church response was OK, although it depends what you mean. I’m glad they shut things down and encouraged vaccinations and masks. I’m *not* glad that they didn’t take the opportunity to revisit rules around who can bless the sacrament or whether it could be done virtually or whether women could do it themselves … thereby cutting off a large group of people from what is supposedly the most important thing we do every week. This backfired on them as I think many women realized (1) it’s a total lie than men don’t have an advantage by holding the priesthood, and (2) they didn’t miss taking the sacrament anyway.
My local Church response was mixed. They broadcasted & authorized at-home sacrament for a long time (until just a few weeks ago), so I appreciate that. They technically asked people to wear masks, but most people didn’t, including people sitting on the stands, so that was frustrating.
My participation changed a lot. The breathing and mental space gave me a chance to reevaluate what was important and what wasn’t. I still participate but I pick and choose a lot more and do a lot less out of habit / obligation.
I’d quit attending Church just over a year before Covid happened, so my participation didn’t change due to Covid and I don’t have much info about how our local leaders handled Covid. Most of my info about Covid and the Church came through the news, friends in other wards, and the Bloggernacle.
I hope a statistician someday gets to look at what happened with Church behaviors before, during and after Covid. I’d expand it past just Sunday attendance and see what the impact was (if any) on temple attendance, serving full-time missions, paying tithing and holding a TR.
Remember all of the optimism that the push for “home centered, Church supported” was inspired and was the future? Haven’t heard that phrase for a while. From a Church standpoint, I think Covid was a disaster. The Church did what it had to do in trying to follow health guidelines and be cautious. But, it also provided very little in the way of ministering and pastoral care during a very traumatic time. I remember on September 11 the Church had a fireside with soothing music and calming words from President Hinckley. It was just silence during the early scary months of the pandemic. The April 2020 conference just kind of ignored it, except for the announcement of a fast, then a second fast (I imagined God cupping his hand to his ear and saying “I can’t hear you! Let’s try that again!). Lots of people took a break and the Church is really scrambling to get people back to church and also to the temple. Our stake is trying like crazy to get people to go back to the temple and doesn’t seem to be having a lot of success. I’m sorry to be a pessimist, but I think it expedited the crisis of people disengaging.
I got Covid in Oct 2020 before vaccines were available. It turned into long Covid (though I wouldn’t call it debilitating just irritating as respiratory issues and fatigue plagued me for a year). I’m now pretty much back to normal ( nearly two years later). So you can bet I’m vaccinated and double boosted. I know these don’t 100% prevent getting Covid again but I’m doing what I can, Church stuff is pretty much what it always was. I only know of one ward family who was attending but now doesn’t. No idea if it’s because of Covid though. What has happened is a TON of new people in our small rural ward…many fleeing states with stricter pandemic guidelines, some displaced economically ( and moving in with family) and one guy who went through a Covid divorce. So it’s been disruptive in all sorts of ways.
Travis: I’m not sure where you are getting your information about Covid vaccines reducing fertility, although this is not a personal concern for me. Having Covid CAN affect fertility and pregnancy outcomes, though. Here’s a link debunking the myth of fertility impacts: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/covid-vaccine-and-fertility/
To your “faith crisis” question about people who followed the brethren’s advice to get the vaccine, I doubt that most people made their decision based on that, but if some did, and they later regret it for whatever reason, sure, they might have a faith crisis from that. My own recommendation is that as adults, we all make and own our own choices. Counsel from others doesn’t absolve our responsibility to make choices for ourselves.
I have several family members who refused to get vaccinated (and their cases of Covid have been mild), and I asked my hematologist whose opinion I respect greatly what he was saying to people who wouldn’t get vaccinated. He said, look, it’s true, we don’t know what the effects could be twenty years from now. The vaccines have passed all necessary trials and are known to be safe in the near term, but anything could have an unforeseen issue later on, but so could Covid, and in fact, there are known downstream impacts from Covid that do shorten life in both actual mortality and quality of life, so his view was that it was the less risky alternative. I’m not mad at people who chose not to get vaccinated. They are (mostly) only hurting themselves at this point, and this is not a problem confined to the US. However, choosing not to get vaccinated, then insisting on not masking inside public spaces and churches at the height of Covid spread is, IMO, another matter, and yes, it’s an indictment of someone’s character.
I am doubly boosted bc I take immunosuppressants. I’d happily get another booster although hard to tell if it is working or not for me (I don’t respond to all vaccines.)
Church from SLC was ok but not great, but I give them a bit of a pass. They did shut things down and eventually put out mask guidelines that were more effective than our government mandate but I never went. I really wasn’t going to indoor gatherings bc of my medical situation but it was really a relief to not have to go.
My family started about a year in then stopped after seeing how most ppl refused to follow mask guidelines despite the surges in cases AND hospitalizations in our area.
We haven’t been back. It gave me the space for both my kids and me to talk with my husband about how we don’t feel like it is healthy to attend. I am very engaged in Mormonism in healthy ways but not in the church proper. I wish I could engage on my terms but there doesn’t feel like there is space for that.
I was only too happy to spend my Sundays at home. But I really felt for people whose only physical contact all week is shaking hands at church, people who don’t have family or personal conversations in the course of a day.
My participation now is about the same as pre-Covid. But my actual investment is almost zero.. And that may just be coincidental – maybe I had whittled it down just as Covid hit.
I live in Queensland, Until christmas our state government had strict border controls, mask mandates etc. Until then we had only 6 deaths from covid. Our government were persuaded by business, federal government, and neighbouring state government to lift restrictions once we got to 80% double vaxed. Then we had other waves.
It is the middle of winter here and we have had the coldest, and wettest winter on record.
My wife and I have had the virus twice this year, but are mostly recovered. We have had one booster and will get the second soon. We are in our mid 70s.
Qld has a population of 5 million, Utah and Idaho combined. Utah 4900 deaths, and Idaho 5035 deaths. Qld is up to 1600 deaths.
My wife still goes to sacrament meeting most sundays, and RS where she has a calling.
To me not going to church when it was closed, was a circuit breaker, and I haven’t been back. The bishop sent me an email inviting me back and asking if I wanted to talk. I emailed back to call me when the church stopped discriminating against women and gays.
Are you Americans aware of the British Commonwealth games? In Birmingham England About a third of the world population involved happening now. Like olympics but include cricket, netball, and disabled events in between abled.
The second counselor in the stake presidency here is a pulmonary specialist and so our stake took it pretty seriously. Our wards response was fine as well.
We left the church though. I am not sure it would have happened without Covid – we just had time to think and to imagine our lives without the church. Combining elders and high priests and shortening the block, activities decreasing in frequency and quality meant that i felt less connection to the people and community as well. My wife started watching tiktok, ran across a lot of exmormon content, and began seriously questioning her faith.
Then when we started to return to full church activities and in person meetings the stake presidency focused on a conference talk about being “all the way in.” We went home and debated what being “all the way in” looked like for us. We made the decision to take a step back and then leave the church. I hade been a pretty nuanced believer for a long time and we just couldn’t see how to do that honestly.
So we left. It was harder and easier than I thought. No one questioned us about why or has tried to deactivate us. I kept imagining these debates in my head where I had to defend our choices to our former friends and church leaders, but it never happened. Our kids were happy not to go back. Our relationship with our oldest daughter and her girlfriend has improved significantly because she doesn’t worry about us judging them as much. But I miss the community.
Typing comments on a phone is a minefield of autocorrect mistakes.
Geoff – Aus, re: Commonwealth Games. I saw an online article and some photos when I looked at bbc.com, but nowhere else.
Thank goodness the President of the church was also a M.D. during this pandemic. I doubt other leaders would’ve shut down in-person services or supported mask mandates etc.
I followed the recommendations of healthcare professionals—fully vaccinated and 2 booster shots. I still mask up when going to public spaces where there are a lot of people.
I enjoyed Zoom church while it lasted. In person church resumed around 5 months ago. It is still offered for ward members who are at higher risk. The primary reason I attend church now is so my daughter-in-law and grandkids don’t have to sit alone. I generally don’t wear a mask at church (and neither does anyone else) as long as we sit where there is no one behind us.
Pretty much things are back to pre Covid.
The Prop 8 campaign was the end of my spouse’s activity in the church. He continued attending the first hour with me until Covid erupted. Now that I have someone to sit by, he hasn’t been going.
Our ward was combined with another ward before Covid. We had mostly older, retired people move out over the past few years to be closer to family. Others have moved due to job opportunities elsewhere.
Post Covid our attendance numbers are smaller. Since I’ve been out of the loop I don’t know why. Our stake has decreased in size by 2 wards over the past 3-4 yrs
I put “mostly approve” for the Church’s response — because every institution has struggled to come up with an effective response and no particular response has worked that well. Initially slow response by the Church (for a week or two or three), then they pulled all US missionaries back to home country and shut down in-person attendance (wow). That was a bold move. As things have slowly returned to normal, more discretion was parceled out to local areas. It has been messy but on the whole they did respond and did take measures. Let’s hope a more lethal and vaccine resistant variant doesn’t emerge and put us all back at square one again.
I have never had covid. I have never had the flu. If I have “caught” either of these my immune system must have destroyed it before I got sick. I have never had the covid vax and I have never had any flu vax. I am in my 60’s and I don’t take any prescription medications. I am vaccine-free for over 25 years.
I am sorry to say it, but someday you will wish you were in my place, unharmed by vaccinations, especially the covid ones. They are causing death and illness, and the media is covering it up.
https://rootforamerica.com/covid-vaccine-dangerous-and-deadly/
You can choose to ignore this, or delete it (mods) but doing so will just show that you’re afraid to look at some data that doesn’t support your paradigm.
I have my first booster but not my second. My age group just became eligible for a second booster this month but we also have to wait six months between shots. With an omicron-specific shot coming in the fall, I don’t want to have to wait until the new year to receive it, which I’ll have to do if I get boosted now.
I have been very frustrated by the response, not just of the LDS church, but of Christian churches in general. So many of them seem afraid to get caught between the “I believe in science” or “I believe in freedom” factions, that they have failed to articulate a third route: “I believe in Christian discipleship”. Frankly, wearing a mask doesn’t necessarily mean that you believe they work – it means that you are creating a safe space for people whose medical conditions require it. It is a small sacrifice of your own comfort to ensure that “the least of these” – the sick, weak, elderly, and vulnerable – are a welcome part of the body of Christ.
I have a heart condition that makes covid extremely dangerous for me, and my doctor’s instructions are that I wear a mask when I am indoors and away from home. I am also supposed to avoid large gatherings of unmasked people, especially when covid numbers surge. When fellow church members wear masks, it makes me feel both welcome and wanted at church. When they don’t, I feel unwanted and unsafe.
It’s difficult for me to articulate the level of disillusionment I have felt throughout the covid pandemic. I always believed that latter-day saints, whatever our flaws, seriously believed that we should keep our baptismal covenant to “bear one another’s burdens that they may be light”. Apparently that applies to bringing casseroles and serving at funerals. But it seems less applicable to wearing a mask or getting vaccinated or doing something that is either uncomfortable or conflicts with your political beliefs. This has been heartbreaking for me and I am struggling to rebuild an emotional tie to my congregation. I still love the gospel and the Book of Mormon and continue to minister to the inactive sisters I teach, but I feel a significant level of emotional distance with my ward. I’m not sure if that “we’re all here for each other” feeling is ever going to return.
Well, Angelina’s comments have aged fairly well, some others have not. Yes, the government and Pfizer covered up a huge adverse reaction that was seen during testing of the vaccine. Nearly half of pregnant women had miscarriages in the study, yet those who knew still urged vaccination for all women.
None of my adult daughters have been vaccinated, partially due to the many anecdotal reports we had heard of the vaccine issues. When will major legal action be taken against the drug companies involved and their protectors?
@el oso you care deeply about your family. Given that, there is another perspective to consider.
https://www.propublica.org/article/covid-maternity-stillbirth-vaccines-pregnancy
Covid 19 is the ‘flu and the ‘flu is misunderstood. It is the internal toxicosis/poisoning of the body. The other perspective is that people need to understand the huge number of toxins in the environment adding to the toxic load on the body from unsuitable food etc.
And vaccines merely add to toxic load assuming there is anything in the individual vials apart from saline. After all, how can we tell?
Add to that vitamin D deficiency due to increased living and working indoors and you have health problem.