Posted on 03/08/2023 12:27:59 PM PST by nickcarraway
Parents were often not truthful about whether their children were vaccinated or needed to quarantine.
The pandemic ushered in a wave of difficult ethical choices. In the early days, there were shortages of N-95 masks, ventilators, and certain forms of treatment. How would those scarce resources be rationed? What about "essential" workers who were immunocompromised? Could they be forced to work? And later, there were different ways in which the vaccines were distributed. The elderly and the immunocompromised generally went first. But people with certain comorbidities could jump the line. And in some places, governments administered vaccines based on racial preferences (or some proxy like zip code).
Throughout this process, people had perverse incentives to lie. For example, a person could lie or exaggerate about the extent to which she was immunocompromised. That term was broadly understood. And there was no real way of linking a particular health condition to COVID. A person who did not want to work in a crowded workplace had an incentive to embellish a health condition. There were similar perverse incentives for declaring "comorbidities." Take "obesity" for example. Many people who would not generally call themselves "obese" would promptly check that box if it helped them get a vaccine quicker. There is also the issue of bribery. I know that people paid money under the table to get the vaccines quicker. Finally, there is the issue of testing and quarantining. We were all on the honor system. A person could conceal her symptoms, or chalk a cough up to allergies. There was no way to track these sorts of things.
A recent paper published by Journal of American Medical Association considers how often parents lied about COVID during the pandemic. The Hill summarizes the results:
In a survey of 580 parents with children under the age of 18, about 26 percent reported that they misrepresented or lied about their children's COVID-19 status, according to a study published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Out of seven behaviors related to adherence to public health guidelines, the most common behaviors were not informing someone who spent time with their child that they suspected or knew that their child had COVID-19, at 24 percent of respondents, and allowing their child to break quarantine, at about 21 percent of respondents.
About 19 percent of respondents did not get their child tested for the coronavirus when they thought their child might have COVID-19.
Other behaviors included:
Stating that their child was older than they were so that they could get vaccinated (9.7 percent of respondents) Saying that their child was vaccinated when they were not (10.1 percent) Saying their child was not vaccinated when they were (12.2 percent) And saying that their child did not need to quarantine when they actually did need to (16.4 percent) These numbers cut in both directions. Roughly the same percentage of parents lied to get their children vaccinated, as parents who lied so their children would not have to get vaccinated.
Perhaps these parents justified the lie, in the interest of protecting the health of their children–either because they believed the vaccine would help or hurt their child. Or they lied about quarantining to avoid having to keep their children out of social circles. At least in this limited regard, truth was sacrificed during the pandemic. I suspect these sorts of lies can be extrapolated to wide ranges of behavior during these unsettled times.
I just ignored whether I had covid or not.
Oh I got more than one free day off because I had “the sniffles.” However, I was still fortunate to be able to work
I lie often being the sinful creature that I am. As for covid our Lord gave my wife and I the strength to hold to our conviction to not be vaccinated or lie for our benefit.
For that I give praise and thanks.
“The pandemic ushered in a wave of difficult ethical choices.”
For those of us with actual consistent moral standards, the ability to think clearly, and genuine respect for our fellow citizens God given constitutional rights...No.
No it didn’t.
I lied every time i had to show my fake vax card. It came down to what’s better for my health- the Kung Flu vax or lying about taking the Kung Flu vax?
When the government, who told enough woppers during Covid to start a nuclear war, makes telling the truth an act of suicide is it wrong to lie or is it a moral duty?
Took one and only one COVID “test”, and that was when Mrs. L was hospitalized with COVID + pneumonia in December 2020.
“Test” was negative.
I was notified of several other alleged “exposures” one year later and never bothered to “test”, isolate, or mask.
I figure every alleged “exposure” made me stronger.
This author is still obsessed with Covid.
No tests, no covid for me. I did get shot and had bad reaction so no more for me.
Last summer (2022) went to a concert with a buddy. You had to show covid shot proof. I had mine but my buddy never got the shot. We borrowed ID and a Covid card one from someone who looked similar to him. No problem.
Remember, this was over 2 years after the initial outbreak and nobody gave a crap at this point.
Wow, even here in the Bay Area, you didn’t need to be vaccinated to go to a concert in the summer of 2022. Do you live in Australia?
Nunya!
Good to know.....You lie often.
Even the best of Christians do. To deny it is to ignore the fact we need our Lord to continue his work in us.
From Paul himself under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration!
Romans 7:19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Well, when stores put up signs saying “masks not required for vaccinated”, I went in without a mask even though I am not vaccinated. I guess technically that’s not a lie, just flouting their rule.
I’ll trust the guy who tells me “I lie often” over the guy that tells me “I never lie” any day of the week.
No I told the truth - keep that fake potion away from me.
I didn’t interact with medical system much during the last 3 years so no. I put on the mask only when needed and kept those instances to a bare minimum. I think wearing a mask is a form of lie given how worthless they are. Haven’t been sick from covid as far as I know. I did have a fever one night in the summer of 2021. I had been out walking in the hot sun that day so it might have been that. Anyways I was back to normal the next morning so if it was covid it was very short in duration. Never vaxxed but no one has ever asked me about it except some friends and family. Told the truth to them.
Believe it or not, this was in Iowa. The venue is kind of a hippie/country deal. Way out in the boonies. I’m sure the family that run it are lib-wackos so they believe all the propaganda without question.
Definitely NOT a normal attitude in the area.
Fortunately they also are kinda stoner-ish so they don’t notice little things like the ID doesn’t actually exactly match the person showing it.
Honesty is a rational virtue. But sometimes it is ok to lie, depending on the context.
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