Six degrees of Shunning the Unvaccinated

City Conversations No One Else is having, #7

Degrees of Separation—Credit: Wikipedia

This City Conversation is a short essay—Some ideas just don’t work as conversations.

Three events happened just this week that caused me to write this. In the order of their occurrence:

#1—The friend of a friend of a friend of my daughter died from COVID-19 three days ago. She will not see the end of her 30th year. Given four degrees of separation, that’s all I know about her. It’s the closest connection I have had with COVID-19 death—in the sadness of these times, I guess that counts as lucky. It’s not my business how she was sickened, nor the course of her premature decline and death. But it’s entirely likely she was killed by exposure to an asymptomatic COVID-19 carrier who had not bothered to declare that they were not vaccinated. The details do not matter—someone died who might still be alive had one gotten vaccinated for the safety of others.

#2—Yesterday we had a backyard, socially distanced evening with five fully vaccinated friends we have known for decades, but only see periodically as we are scattered across the Lower Mainland. We congratulated one of the five on their recent and early retirement from teaching. They smiled, then explained a key reason was contracting COVID-19 in February of this year from a student whose parents frequented a bar that flouted COVID protocols (contact tracing sometimes works!). They were off work for more than three months and still suffer long-COVID issues. They had contracted the Alpha variant, were worried that in spite of vaccination they might now contract the Delta variant, and die.

#3—Today I had a phone conversation with a reluctantly self-declared unvaccinated person wanting to collaborate on a policy document of mutual interest. “I’m sorry (what a typical Canadian start), I won’t be able to collaborate on this until you are fully vaccinated,” I explained. We were not talking about face-to-face collaboration, rather editing documents shared online. They were not pleased at my declaration.

It’s time to draw my electronic line in the sand. I have heard way too many variations on these stories. The indignant demonstrate publicly, but many others go about their affairs, quietly choosing not to declare their unvaccinated choice and their contacts’ resulting vulnerability. This must stop.

This vaccination subterfuge will only stop when the hesitant, the misinformed, the malicious are challenged—when they are shunned.

Shunning has a long if inglorious history. It’s sometimes confused with excommunication but is not necessarily based in religion. Shunning is a powerful tool for managing group social behaviour. For liberal individuals, I think it offers a simple means for each fully vaccinated citizen to indicate that in today’s Canada, a lack of vaccination is unacceptable.

Wikipedia suggests shunning is simply the deliberate avoidance of association with the person shunned. One of the failings of our recent efforts to get more folks vaccinated is its reliance on gentle persuasion—zealots, whether quiet or vocal, have demonstrated that words, smiles and even rewards are not working. Shunning’s time has sadly come.

But before you shun, ask. Ask if the individual you are worried about is fully vaccinated, in case you have been misinformed or they have recently relented. I have yet to find a vaccinated person who will deny they have been “jabbed”—even if they only have the first vaccination, they will usually tell you eagerly, also when they are due for their second. Anything less than confirmation is a hard “No!” “First jab happening soon” is a hard “No!” “I just haven’t had time yet” is a hard “No!”

I suggest six degrees of shunning—my apologies to the authors of the six degrees of separation concept:

1.     Tell the unvaccinated person(s) or your network that you are shunning the unvaccinated, being careful not to identify them by name in writing to prevent legal action or worse. Don’t be afraid to use the word shun. Be clear but polite that you are curtailing interaction based on their vaccination status and will restart 14 days after they are fully vaccinated. You don’t need to justify your decision, or the timeline—the science is overwhelming.

2.     In most non-employment situations, you can decline any physical proximity such as in-person meetings with non-vaccination as the reason—where you are unclear about others’ previous physical proximity to the unvaccinated, err on the side of caution;

3.     Decline politely to respond to the entreaties of the person(s) shunned or the associated network—your shunning declaration is sufficiently clear;

4.     Decline to interact over social and communications media with the shunned individual(s). Do not answer their emails or comment on their posts until/unless they send you evidence confirming they are fully vaccinated—then allow 14 days for full immunization to take effect.

5.     Where you are collaborating and your employment status permits, decline to consider their “work product” or work they have contributed to—treat it as intellectually compromised, arising as it does from someone whose beliefs do not appear to include respect for others;

6.     Be compassionate and welcoming if the shunned person relents and receives full vaccination. Also be compassionate but careful if someone indicates they have a contra-indicating medical condition preventing vaccination. Ask for details, research and use your common sense. What may have been intimated by a medical professional months ago has likely been set aside as one by one, hesitancy concerns have been eliminated by the science.

In situations where there is an employer/employee relationship, you will need to do what you can while remaining employed. I now regularly see on LinkedIn and Facebook large business groups in close proximity and unmasked. When I commented on this, one LinkedIn respondent explained that they meet all (US) state requirements. I thought: “Tell that to the families of the ones who are still infected by the unvaccinated, and die.”

I am sad that events have come to this, that reason, science, medicine, even bribery are not working. Many others have written eloquently about the reasons supporting vaccination—I continue to honour their efforts and to consume their thoughts and recommendations, sharing the best of them. As for the unvaccinated—consider yourselves shunned until you do your bit to ensure no more lives are needlessly lost to the pandemic. You don’t have to agree with me or like me—you just have to do it.

Brian Palmquist is a fully vaccinated Vancouver-based architect, building envelope and building code consultant and LEED Accredited Professional (the first green building system). He is semi-retired, so not beholden to any client or city hall. These conversations mix real discussion with research and observations based on a 40+ year career including the planning, design and construction of almost every type and scale of project. He is the author of the Amazon best seller “An Architect’s Guide to Construction.”