Fueling the fire

To get vaccinated or not? Readers muster support for both positions

Vaccines are why smallpox, polio have vanished, folks

I APPRECIATE the Journal’s publication of the piece by Algernon D’Ammassa of the Las Cruces Sun-News (on) May 4, in which he recounts the mandated door-to-door smallpox vaccinations in 1916. Lately I have become appalled at the increased refusals of so-called anti-vaxxers who base their refusal on a constitutional right to freedom. One writer even called upon Roe v. Wade to protect her from a tiny needle invading the privacy of her body.

I wonder how many have noticed the small scar on the upper arm of their grandparents? That reddish mark about the size of a nickel reveals he or she received a smallpox vaccination many decades ago. It was so successful that it is rare to see that mark on the arms of the next generation because by then the deadly disease was eradicated. Next came the Salk vaccine against polio. One of my cousins spent many months as a youngster in an iron lung because of that scourge. Can you imagine that? An iron lung. The Salk vaccine was put on a sugar cube and administered worldwide. Now polio, too, has vanished.

More recently it seems Ebola is under control. For the same reason children no longer suffer from diphtheria, whooping cough and measles — although the latter made a brief return. And why? Because a few parents refused the vaccine.

Consider the number of diseases that have been wiped from the face of the Earth because of vaccines. Think about what the situation might be today if we still had smallpox, polio and the other now-vanished diseases.

I am a strong believer in a liberal democracy and the Constitution that is its foundation. And that includes the legitimacy of government mandates and even some degree of force to ensure the health and safety of the population. If that were not true, our country and likely the whole world would look quite different than it does today. JOHN WYMORE Albuquerque

Military gives shots for the greater good, to defeat virus

THE ALBUQUERQUE Journal’s April 30 letter to the editor, “Holloman airmen coerced to get ‘emergency’ vaccine,” postulates that Airmen and civilians employed as government contractors either get the COVID-19 vaccination or fear reprisal. I see them simply being offered a choice between two proven methods of preventing the spread of COVID.

Death rates show SARS-CoV-2 is 25 times more deadly than the flu. It is highly infectious and we now know it is spread by inhaling the too-small-to-see virus expelled on the breath of an infected person, who may show no signs of illness.

The first of two methods acknowledged worldwide to be effective against COVID-19 spread is the passive one: wear a mask to prevent your breath from unknowingly scattering the virus in the air; wear a mask to prevent inhaling any airborne virus; stay physically far enough away from others to be out of range of expelled virus; stay out of crowds, especially indoors; and get regular testing. If you are exposed to someone infected or if you travel, isolate yourself for seven to 14 days for additional testing and observation. Simple, proven safety measures, not “onerous rules.”

Additionally, we now have a second, active method against infection: get vaccinated. Vaccines introduce a whiff of the virus — either a protein in the SARSCoV-2 spike or another inactive part — to induce the body to run war games against that “scent,” training the immune system how to recognize and fight the virus before it invades. Not because of any shortcuts but due to emergency prioritization and an unprecedented mobilization of scientific effort around the world utilizing years of research, COVID-19 vaccines were developed and tested in large trials demonstrating repeatable and consistently high rates of safety and effectiveness before being manufactured in record time.

Unlike private citizens, the military is always on alert. It has to be able to respond instantly to any and all emergencies — terrorist attacks, acts of war. In 2020, COVID-19 defeated an entire aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt. That cannot be allowed to happen again. That our brave men and women in the military are tasked to strictly follow precise and proven prevention measures is not callousness. It is for the greater good. DOROTHY TAYLOR

Las Cruces

Do you prioritize personal freedoms or personal safety?

WHEN IT comes to politics, there are obviously two kinds of people in this world. Those who trust government and those who do not. I fall into the second group and find it utterly frustrating to have to read, speak to and deal with those in the first group. Even when the evidence is so blatant that government, by way of politicians, cannot be trusted and that their actions are incoherent and self-serving, the first group of folks still support and cherish their government overseers.

Case in point is the completely incompetent leadership demonstrated during this so-called pandemic. It is obvious and well-documented that a lockdown of the entire world was politically motivated and completely unnecessary. Those who advise against mandated mask wearing, social shutdowns and worldwide vaccines are many, yet their voices are silenced by a compliant media.

“Follow the science and data” was the early political mantra used to justify control of the population. By the time the factual science and data became known, it was too late. Government had accomplished something never seen before — the greatest violation of human rights on a worldwide scale ever seen. Humans voluntarily submitted in the fear of a virus that the actual data showed was 98% survivable.

Those in the first group applauded government efforts to save lives; those in the second complacently submitted, not knowing what to do or how to regain that which was so precious to lose. It has been accurately stated: Many will forfeit personal freedom in exchange for personal safety.

We now have the “vaccine.” Promoted and pushed by governments and media as the solution to the worldwide lockdowns. Why do I feel as if I am living in an Orwellian nightmare? The first group eagerly stepped in line to get their cure yet still submit to the mask mandate, while many in the second group are saying, “Wait a minute, not so fast.” Either this chemical concoction is the newest medical cure for future pandemics or it is an attempt to control and manipulate humans through fear to bring them into an intended objective.

We will soon find out.

GARY HAYS Albuquerque