Mayoral candidate gives COVID-19 disinformation

Steven Strawn, Republican candidate for mayor of Annapolis is unvaccinated and content to not only be exposed to the risks of COVID-19 but also content to expose others to illness and possible death. Last month at the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association picnic Mr. Strawn approached me to talk. I did not know him. We were outdoors, unmasked, standing less than 2 feet apart.

We chatted for a couple of minutes and he then brought up that he was running for mayor. Then it dawned on me how closely we were standing to each other. So I asked him, as I had asked several others: “Are you vaccinated?” He said no. I stepped away three more feet and asked him why not. He said his father got vaccinated and then died within 3 months — but did not say it was from COVID-19 or the vaccine. He then insisted that 20,000 Americans had died from the shot, not breakthrough infections. I told him that was nuts; but he and his campaign manager insisted these were Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers. I told him as an unvaccinated person he should be social distancing from anyone he talks to and should be wearing a mask due to all the campaigning he is doing.

So I’ve looked at the CDC numbers and of the 187,000,000 vaccinated Americans, only 3 deaths have been attributed to the vaccine itself. And of the 166,000,000 fully vaccinated Americans only 1,507 people, .0001%, have had breakthrough cases resulting in death. So not only is Mr. Strawn willing to expose himself and others to illness and death, he obscenely misrepresents the risks for those who have been vaccinated.

I will not vote for Mr. Strawn, nor should anyone who cares about the health and well being of our neighbors and our city. He is so cavalier about my life and the lives of his neighbors and of the facts that it frightens me to imagine what he would be like as an elected official.

Dan Clements, Annapolis