Vaccination: A Biblical duty to do more than stand idly by when the community suffers

We have left the communal debate about how to fairly distribute the vaccines and now are individually grappling with whether to vaccinate. When I was trying to find a place that would provide a vaccination, I ended up to going to Hinesville, Georgia, a small community about an hour and a half away and the same size as Hilton Head. During my first visit, I noticed quite a few cars from Hilton Head, and it felt like a reunion.

Yet, I wondered: Why would a town like Hinesville have an excess of vaccinations, whereas in Hilton Head the shot was difficult to find? One possible reason: A lot of folks there weren’t willing to get a vaccination and didn’t trust the medicine. If that is true, then did I benefit from their fears?

Clearly I am not going to convince anti-vaccination proponents that vaccination is not only the smart thing to do but also the ethical thing to do as individuals and as a society. So let me focus on this issue from a Biblical foundation and extend that to the wisdom of my faith.

My faith tradition is clear that getting a vaccination is equivalent to saving a life. Look at Leviticus 19:16: “Do not stand by the blood of your neighbor.” The idea is that we cannot be passive when it comes to saving someone else’s life.

The problem we are facing is not science or medicine itself. Sure, there are risks, and people point to news stories in which an almost infinitesimal percentage of people became seriously ill after being vaccinated.

But isn’t vaccination not just about saving one’s life but also other people’s? The tension is between our individual rights and our collective duty and responsibility to pursue what is best for the community we all live in.

And isn’t there a moral obligation to help others when they are facing danger?

I feel confident that the Torah teaches that standing idly by when our community is suffering is against what God wants us to do.

Would we stand by if a neighbor were assaulted? Would we just go about our business and not call the police? If we found someone lying in a gutter, would we not help them? Now that we have surpassed over half a million deaths from the COVID-19 virus, are we to stand idly by and let more people die because we feel our individual liberties have been threatened?

The issue is not about protecting individual liberties, rather, it is about protecting life itself. In a worldwide pandemic, more vaccinations get us closer to herd immunity, and that means fewer people die.

According to Yale University health center, there are, of course, categories of people who justifiably may forgo the vaccination. “Examples are of people with a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to any component of the COVID-19 vaccine. They should NOT receive the vaccine. People with a potentially severe allergic reaction to any vaccine or injectable medication should consult their physician to assess the risk prior to receiving the vaccine.”

Other medical conditions, including risks associated with immunosuppressive illnesses, merit careful consideration of whether to hold off on the vaccination. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that the COVID-19 vaccine should not be withheld from pregnant or breastfeeding individuals. Yet Yale’s health report indicates that the data is limited regarding pregnant women and the increased risks of severe illness from COVID-19 and the impact upon pregnant women and their children. Consulting with one’s health care provider is critical.

These situations are completely different from the questions that most Americans are dealing with regarding their religious beliefs. The majority of Americans are challenged to make the moral decision that benefits the public good versus what we think benefits us as individuals.

Get the vaccination, wear the mask and keep your distance from the next person. When we do that we are moving the nation closer to the public health we yearn for ourselves, our families and our community. Isn’t this the teaching of the Torah — not standing idly by the blood of our neighbor?

This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 10:51 AM.