It’s no secret that Jennifer Aniston uses her platform to share positive political and social messages.
She recently shared that she cut a few people out of her life after they refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
This common-sense decision resulted in some backlash from, well, you can imagine.
But while many might just roll their eyes, Jennifer is taking the time to explain why this is the right thing to do.
This week, Jennifer Aniston opened up on her Instagram Story to respond to a “fan” who questioned her decision.
“But if [Jennifer’s] vaccinated she’s protected correct?” the bad faith question began.
The question continued: “Why be worried about [having unvaxxed people] around her?”
“Because if you have the variant, you are still able to give it to me,” Jennifer wrote.
Though breakthrough cases of COVID-19 to the vaccinated are rare and less severe than for the unvaccinated, they are very real.
“I may get slightly sick,” she explained, “but I will not be admitted to a hospital and or die.”
“BUT I CAN give it to someone who does not have the vaccine,” Jennifer’s explanation continued.
“And,” she described, “whose health is compromised (or has a previous existing condition).”
Jennifer could then pass that variant infection on “and therefore I would put their lives at risk.”
“THAT is why I worry,” Jennifer explained.
Wisely, she concluded: “We have to care about more than just ourselves.”
Unfortunately, it seems abundantly clear that a certain portion of the population will never, ever do that.
Jennifer also followed up that heartfelt and compassionate explanation with a simple line.
She shared an image of a piece of embroidery to her Instagram Story.
The embroidery read: “What doesn’t kill you mutates and tries again.”
Celebrities should never be our primary sources of information on a virus.
However, if someone is still asking this question in August of 2021, one of two things is the case:
One, that they will never listen to any real information. Two, that they just needed to hear it from the right person.
After all, genuine information on COVID-19 is widely available to anyone with an earnest interest.
Look at that screenshot of Jennifer’s Instagram Story again.
The app has a built-in link for reliable, confirmed, legitimate info on the virus. So does YouTube. So does Facebook.
However, there’s an odd tendency on social media for people to just tweet or comment questions that they could google.
In many cases, copy-pasting the question into the Google search bar could do them more good than tweeting it out.
Of course … that’s only if they have a sincere interest in having their question given an honest answer.
In this case, we all know that there are a small portion of breakthrough infections.
From anecdotal reports from ER nurses to broad statistics and everything in between, we know that it happens.
Jennifer should not knowingly expose herself to COVID-19 — or to anyone too unhinged to care if they or loved ones get the virus.
Jennifer could have taken a purely moral stance, explaining cutting off anti-vaxx weirdos because she doesn’t want to associate with bad people.
Instead, she chose a compassionate answer that laid out her reasons in very simple terms.
We don’t know if her words reached the person who asked the question, but perhaps it will reach someone else. That could save lives.