Now. Not tomorrow. Right now we should act against the controllable tragedies of our time. Until we do, hundreds of Americans and thousands of global citizens will die every day because we lack a sense of urgency. We could have ended the COVID nightmare long ago had everyone summoned the prudence to get vaccinated. Instead, we face a spreading pandemic and 9/11-sized losses every few days.

Suppose a deadly missile were heading toward Central Kentucky and we had time to escape. Would we leave? One would hope, but our behavior suggests otherwise. If we treated the missile crisis like the environmental crisis, many people would pretend it wasn’t real and do nothing. If we treated the crisis like the humanitarian crises around the country and the world, we would look the other way. If we treated that crisis like the COVID pandemic, half the population would not take available escape routes.

We are in a position to save ourselves and others. Getting a vaccination is like escaping the missile and bringing a busload of friends and family along too. Out of the 1.2 billion fully vaccinated people in the world, a small number have had a serious adverse reaction, but far fewer than the number of people injured driving down the road. So if you would drive out of town to dodge a deadly missile, harness the same sense of urgency to protect yourself and help others. Choose life. Get vaccinated. Not tomorrow.

David Anderson

Danville