West Hansen pilots his muddy Subaru through the industrial landscape of Southeast Texas where he grew up — past Bible churches, donut shops and the silver industrial towers of the refineries. The longtime social worker says he’s given up trying to explain to his clients how safe the COVID-19 vaccines are.
“I’ve grown weary of it,” he says. “I’ve realized that there’s no convincing somebody once they have their mind made up.”
He pulls up to the neatly trimmed yard of a townhouse where Donna and Danny Downes are waiting for him in their living room. She is a work-at-home administrator for a fence contractor; he’s a retired insurance salesman who is legally blind. They are devout Baptists.