Stand back! Let’s try science

Regarding “Over 1,000 test positive for COVID in a single day” (July 18), I find it delightful to regularly read headlines in your newspaper about astounding anthropological and archeological discoveries found just beneath the surface of this land. How great to hear of the discoveries from the digs. I only wish that the Post would do a little digging of its own on the COVID crisis, instead of acting as a mouth-piece and cheerleader for government policies.

How about a serious discussion on the well-proven alternate methods of lowering the risk of serious illness from any of the variants? For example, even before the vaccines were available here, it was known that having low vitamin D levels greatly increases one’s risk of illness and death from COVID. This is particularly relevant because the populations with the highest damage from COVID (the elderly, Arabs and haredim) also have the lowest vitamin D levels. How many lives could have been saved by raising the entire population’s vitamin D levels? Why is the Health Ministry still not championing such a simple and logical approach to disease prevention?

I would expect the Post to spotlight the recent report by the Cochrane Library (a respected journal specializing in evaluating the pooled results of research) that concluded that there was a cheap, safe and effective oral medication that appears to greatly reduce the risk of catching COVID or becoming ill from it. When the media chatter is now about a booster vaccine and resistant strains, how newsworthy is that scientific advance!

Just like with hidden archeological finds, there’s a lot to write about regarding Israel’s handling of the pandemic, as wonderful as it appears, if only one digs a little below the surface.

DR. TED MILLER

Jerusalem