The debate over COVID-19 is going to stick around for a long, long time. Way longer than anyone really wants it to. Is it real? Was it man made? This doctor is lying. This doctor is honest. It's a government conspiracy. Microchips. 5G. Vaccine. OH MY GOD! There are 8,000 voices yelling at us right now about this stupid virus, no wonder we have no idea what to believe.

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I put a mask on picking up some groceries yesterday for the first time in a couple of months. It felt weird. After thinking this whole pandemic thing was finished, I was hoping I could put all this behind me. Now we're getting bashed in the head about the Delta variant and now some kind of Lambda variant. How can we sort fact from fiction?

This pandemic has been a nightmare. People have believed it, people have said it's fake. "Mask mandates were a destruction of our freedoms." "Having to wear mask saves lives." "The vaccines will implant a chip in us so we can be constantly tracked by the government." "The vaccines are here to save us and end this virus." What's the truth to any of this?

I believe this pandemic is real. I believe this virus is a real, and dangerous, thing. I had the virus in November of 2020, it sucked. Luckily, I didn't have to be hospitalized, just had to deal with pneumonia for a couple of weeks.

Some people were not so lucky. The virus attacked their body and killed them. The fact that people downplayed those deaths was downright disrespectful. Sure the survival rate is something like 95 percent, but that means that not everyone will survive. Discounting the deaths due to a high survival rate doesn't make the virus fake.

For those of you that have had no belief in any of this over the last year and a half, cool. Here is my request, though, don't put someone down or look down on them in public or be passive aggressive and shame someone on social media because they continue to wear a mask. You have screamed at us about rights and freedoms this whole time, that's their right and freedom. Respect their decision and move on.

For those of you that have believed in this pandemic over the last year, cool. Here is my request, though, get your vaccine and don't act like you're some kind of warrior for mankind. Yes, you're doing what you think is right but everyone doesn't need to know it. Do your part and move on.

One other thing about the vaccine, YOU ARE NOT BEING FORCED TO GET ONE! If you don't want it, then great, don't get it. If you have reservations about getting it, like myself, how about talking to people that have gotten it. Ask them about their experience with it. Talk to your doctor about it. YOU ARE NOT A MEDICAL EXPERT. Did you go to school for a decade studying medical science? No. Your doctor did and will be honest with you.

After talking to my doctor, I'm a Type 1 Diabetic by the way so I do take my doctor's advice very seriously, he had no issues with me getting the vaccine. His only comment was that it's still possible to catch the virus, the effects just won't be as bad. But that's what my doctor told me, ask yours and listen.

Even after following my own advice, I still find it hard which side to believe, though. Mask or no mask? Vaccine or no vaccine? I just need to do my due diligence and find what the right decision for me is. Which is what we all should do.

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