No judgment, please: Unvaxxed and unbowed

My body, my rules. In the same way that I fully respect the opinion of Mr. Jürgen Schöfer in “Consequences for the unvaccinated” (Letters, 05/04/23), my choice to remain unvaccinated despite the risks of COVID-19 should be accorded the same courtesy.

I may be raising eyebrows from readers with my bold statement, but I’m used to being discriminated against and treated differently for standing my ground with my unpopular choice. But being me, writing as my means of giving balance to pressing issues and being fearless with my views, has gained me some admiration as well.

Please don’t judge me based on my choice of going against the tide. No one can take care of my one and only body better than myself. My strong faith in my Maker, who entrusted me with a borrowed physical body, kept me afloat before and after the pandemic. I am endowed with a superior immune system that no sophisticated manufactured vaccine or drugs can match.

It’s worth repeating that I am in tip-top shape, sans maintenance drugs, way past beyond my golden age. My mobility has never been compromised. I have never been hospitalized except when I gave birth to my three daughters some decades back. I maintain a healthy lifestyle by walking a lot. I bring and prepare my own food to the office and watch what I eat. That I look younger than my age is another story.

So, why would I allow a foreign substance, on emergency use, to be infused into my bloodstream? I fear the vaccine more than the virus itself. My two daughters and I tested positive (by the Department of Health’s (DOH) standard) in August 2021. It was nothing to be afraid of, after all.

Rolling up one’s sleeve for the COVID-19 vaccine is not the only means to be healthy. No amount of sowing continuous fear by the DOH can push me to have the vaccine especially now that, per global perspective, we seem to be out of the woods. The minimum health safety protocols must continue to be in place, though.

By the way, I take public transport and travel without fear, and I mingle with ordinary folk whenever and wherever. A happy disposition cannot be taken away from me. My being unvaxxed should not stop me from being the positive person that I am. That my not being vaccinated puts my life in danger is a lie. Neither does my being unvaccinated make me unhealthy. I know of many friends and loved ones who were fully vaxxed, yet are now six feet under the ground.

My girls, all of legal age, got their jabs. Well, they are mature enough to embrace what they think is good for them. And I am more than old enough to decide for myself what I believe is best for me. My father died at 82, while my mother at 85. I must have in me their sturdy genes. Hence, my decision to remain unvaxxed does not make me less of the person that I am, and a person of worth. Nobody can take that away from me, ever.

BELEN DOCENA-ASUELO