Not out of woods yet

Here’s an old brain-teaser riddle that most have probably heard before: How far can a bear run into the woods? The answer is halfway, and then he starts to run out of the woods.

For Arkansas, the bear (covid inoculations) is not even halfway into the woods (the presence of covid). In fact, he is only about one-third into the woods in Arkansas. The problem is that people, including our Arkansas governor, have not taken into account that the surge worried about is here and now, and more drastic steps need to be taken to quell the surge.

For those who are “afraid” to take the shot for various unproven reasons during the surge of this variant of covid (Delta), their lack of humanity is showing. By that I mean that this is not just a personal decision, but a public health emergency. By saying that they don’t want their freedom taken away and exhibiting their inaction, they are in fact taking freedom away from others, and I’m speaking about potentially taking away the gift of life itself. And what about the longterm effects of the disease?

Whenever I am out, even though I have had the inoculation for several months, I wear a mask. I am in a vulnerable age group, as is my wife, and I refuse to put either of us at the mercy of irresponsible people. By not wearing masks or taking the vaccination, the odds of someone getting covid have increased many-fold. I have a hard time believing unvaccinated people are able to sleep at night with the possibility of a covid infection hanging over them and perhaps their family.

Let’s help the bear get halfway into the woods, and then start to come out of the woods, and eventually into the free air, by getting inoculated. GEORGE WILKEN

Little Rock