Handling COVID-19
Two letters from Tim Jackins* to all of the RC e-mail discussion lists
DECEMBER 16, 2020
The challenge to think clearly about handling the dangerous circumstances created by COVID-19 is going to remain with us for many months yet. The virus is so easily communicated among people and so damaging that we have already lost well over a million and a half lives around the world.
We have also recently gained vaccines to handle the virus and drastically reduce the number of lives lost. Through massive efforts in many countries, scientists have developed several vaccines that are now being used widely. They have been tested on large numbers of people and have demonstrated their solid capabilities to protect against the virus.
Based on my reading of many articles about these vaccines, both in the mass media and in science publications, I think that I will be vaccinated because the vaccines appear to provide good protection with little risk. I also know that all of us are likely to have restimulated feelings about receiving one of these vaccines. Many medical things were done to us as children with no attempt to involve our minds. Also, there has been much misinformation about and politicizing of the vaccines. Each of us can have sessions on our restimulations and work to find real information before we decide whether or not to be vaccinated. Doing this work is part of what we need to do to find a solution to the situation. Please do it.
March 18, 2021
The situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve. The virus is still spreading around the world, killing many thousands of people each day and sickening far more. The effects of the virus vary widely across the world—influenced by many factors, including the differences in wealth and political leadership in the various countries. Vaccines continue to be developed, tested, and found effective in protecting individuals from COVID-19 and are being widely distributed and used. Some have been developed using new technology, and some in the more traditional way of producing vaccines.
Vaccines have been vital in the past in stopping some diseases such as polio and smallpox. In my reading of the media and science-related information, the recent vaccines all appear to be quite effective in protecting individuals from serious illness and death. They appear to greatly improve an individual’s probability of survival. But as with any intervention in our body’s natural functioning, they have to be carefully thought about and examined, with the understanding that they may have effects beyond helping our body resist the virus. Data has shown that some of the vaccines have had a very small number of adverse side effects.
Many of the vaccines are being produced by large private corporations that will make large amounts of profit from producing them. Profiting from others’ misfortune is part of our economic system and something we are all wary of. The profit motive can make these corporations less than candid about their products.
We have a real pandemic in a situation that has many complicating factors and irrationalities built into it. We need to make the best decisions we can in this imperfect situation, and we will run into old distresses that will make this a challenge.
People think most clearly when they have a chance to discharge on the ways they have been mistreated and misinformed, and when they have access to real information. We have the resource to get the sessions and discharge we need to clear our minds so that we can use real information, not simply opinions, in deciding how best to handle the present circumstance. We do not need to automatically do what we may have done before—thoughtlessly do what we are told to do, or thoughtlessly refuse to do what we are told because of our undischarged distresses.
From my counseling of people who have contracted COVID and people who have lost others to it, I have no doubt this is a real pandemic. Because of the irrationalities of our societies and the distresses we as individuals carry, it looks like we will lose millions of people to it. We can each choose the way forward that we think will provide the best possibilities for a good future for ourselves, the people close around us, and our species. What each one of us chooses does have an effect, very widely, in this situation. In making your decisions, please use the resources we have all worked so hard to develop.
From my gathering of information, it is clear to me that no other widely available measures exist to stop the pandemic except a large percentage of us being vaccinated as quickly as possible. All the other widely available treatments and measures—masking, disinfecting, social distancing—can slow down the spread of the virus. But under our current conditions of high concentrations of people and large numbers of people traveling great distances, they will not stop nor eradicate the virus. So, I have taken a vaccine as soon as it was available to me, and am now three weeks past the second shot, having felt very little effect either time.
(Present Time 203, April 2021)