Discouraging others from getting vaccinated is despicable, says reader

To the Editor:

RE: “Mixed response to Freedom Rally in Kincardine”

I, too, would like to double-down on the well-written letter by Sarah Pelton.

Let’s look at Exhibit A: Japan. You may recall from the recent Olympics, that Japan was struggling with COVID-19 case loads. Only recently being able to acquire the vaccines, Japan embarked on an aggressive vaccination program. As a result, its cases have plummeted to between 300-400 per day, while Canada remains stubbornly in the thousands. (Also, Japan has a population four-times the size of Canada’s.)

Why could this be? Historically, Japan has a culture of citizens following the rules. It also follows the rule on the mask mandate. Here in North America, I believe that a lot of people don’t like being told what to do, even if it’s for their good … as well as for the community. The quantity of misinformation out there doesn’t help.

For anybody to argue that we’re sacrificing our freedoms … that argument is laughable. If sacrificing a “freedom” to save lives and maintain a quality of life, then I’m all in. You want the freedom of not wearing a seatbelt, you suffer the consequences. I’m glad my parents never objected to me having different vaccines as a child - saved me from polio (crippling), TB (iron lung machine), etc.

While some may object to the COVID-19 vaccine passport, it was certainly beneficial in getting the hesitant population vaccinated. Up to just before its implementation, vaccinations had started to stall out.

For those who worry about long-term effects of the vaccines, there’s no absolutes in life. I’m satisfied that rigorous testing has been done. The CDC and FDA in the United States, as well as our own equivalent in Canada, have carefully gone over the data. None of the companies involved in producing the vaccines wants to face a class-action lawsuit.

COVID-19 cases that have required hospitalization show that about seven-times as many are made up of the unvaccinated. The vaccines have been shown to reduce your viral load and, thus, require less hospitalizations. I want to do my part in reducing the overstretched loads of our hospital staff. We have already seen the results with some of our western provinces that have exercised their “freedom.” Insufficient ICU (intensive care unit) beds has resulted in air transport to other provinces.

You want to play Russian Roulette with your health and that of your loved ones, so be it. I would prefer my “gun” to have 100 chambers instead of six. Your immune system may be strong enough to avoid hospitalization, but that doesn’t exempt those with whom you may come into contact.

The governments are acting on advice from the prevailing science. I want to do my best for my community. In my opinion, to discourage others from taking the jab, with your protests, is despicable.

Doug Holtby
Kincardine