WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION BUREAUCRATS: No, we won’t tell you how many of us are vaccinated.

The World Health Organization, a subsidiary of the United Nations, has been trying to lead the way on global vaccination policy during the COVID pandemic. They are keen to see as many people as possible be vaccinated and they keep close track of the progress in nations across the world. They are also quick to note how many vaccinations take place and scold more economically prosperous nations for taking care of their own people before sending more doses to less developed countries. But when it comes to vaccination rates and vaccine hesitancy, how well are the people at the WHO doing themselves? How many of them and their staffers have rolled up their sleeves to set a good example for the rest of the planet? We don’t know because they are refusing to tell us. That sort of medical information is “private,” you see. . . .

Far more likely is the possibility that the WHO just doesn’t want the public snooping around regarding their own vaccination rates. If their own hesitancy rate is higher than that of some of the countries they are barking at, their position as the world’s hall monitor is severely undermined. That’s the same thing we see in governments and organizations everywhere these days, though. They are the first to preach to you about the importance of getting vaccinated, tracking vaccination rates, and scolding areas where the numbers are too low. (Unless we’re talking about an area with a lot of minority residents, in which case it’s simply “unfortunate.”) But when you ask them how they are doing in getting everyone vaccinated in their own offices, it’s suddenly personal information.

Isn’t it curious how this all seems to keep playing out the same way? Normally, people’s private medical information is just that… private. People or institutions peering too closely at anyone’s medical situation can be called out for potential discrimination and all manner of other things. In certain cases, you can be charged with violations of the law for doing so. But now, when it comes to a specific vaccination, everyone is supposed to voluntarily make that information very public.

Well, not everyone, exactly. Bureaucrats everywhere: Privacy for me, but not for thee, but hypocrisy for me by the truckload. It’s a clown show all the way down.

And, of course, it’s certain that the reason they’re not releasing the numbers isn’t “privacy,” but because the vaccination rate is low enough to make the W.H.O. look bad and to undercut its message.