Eradicating COVID will take a community-wide effort. We must all do our part | Opinion

We — this community and this nation — are at a crossroads, as we have been many times during our history. And that is when Americans do our best work. We put differences aside, we band together, we move forward and we succeed.

We are battling an invisible enemy that refuses to throw up the white flag of surrender. And while we have lost quite a few battles in 2020, we thought we had this enemy retreat. We had a new weapon at our disposal that was going to finally end this “war.”

Sadly, that has not been the case.

We must seize the initiative once more. We need to get vaccinated and, if needed, supplement it with recommended booster vaccines, so we can push COVID-19 back into a retreat and, this time, finish it off.

I am COVID-19 Committee chairperson for the Association of Miami-Dade Chiefs of Police, serving in this position since the start of the pandemic. Therefore, I speak to men and women in blue. But the discussion also applies to the community at large.

Those of us in law enforcement are but a microcosm of the communities we serve.

In my more than 36 years in law enforcement, I have found it far easier to persuade someone with facts and respect than with a “my way or the highway” approach. Dwight Eisenhower astutely remarked, “You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that’s assault, not leadership.”

Though I am not for vaccination mandates, I am, however, very much for bringing science and proven facts to the table along with robust and honest debate to change the minds of those who are adamant against taking the vaccine.

Recently, former state Rep. Robert Asencio and retired police Capt. Raul Correa invited me on their podcast, “Miami Cop Talk,” where we presented facts and shared honest discussion with elected leaders, educators, entertainers, all with a diversity of thoughts, to help deliver the message that getting vaccinated is the best way to protect oneself, and others, against COVID.

I am reminded of when a flight attendant tells us that, “Should the air mask drop, put the mask on yourself first before you put it on your children.” It’s the same with law enforcement. We protect and serve. But we must protect ourselves first so that we can do our jobs safely.

We can neither protect nor serve when we are laid up for two weeks in quarantine. But this is broader than the law-enforcement community.

Here is my plea: If we don’t collectively launch our own counter-offensive, COVID will not go away on its own. COVID will only get stronger via new mutations (one of which, Delta Plus, sits just over the horizon). The economy will be collateral damage.

We need not worry about government-mandated business lockdowns. That is not going to happen. No one wants that. But I submit that, if you own a small business, let’s say a Subway franchise with six employees, and everyone contracts or is exposed to COVID and must quarantine, you are going to have to shut down for a few weeks and/or blow your budget on paying overtime to have other employees fill in.

This is on us. Getting the vaccine and minimizing transmission, beyond obviously saving lives, will keep our economy strong.

A shot in the arm is a shot for the economy.

David Magnusson is chief of the El Portal Police Department.