These are not comparable

AIDS vs. COVID

Regarding “Two health crises, same concerning sentiment,” (Aug. 27): I am shocked, to say the least, that a reader is comparing apples to watermelons. He writes that “suggesting that individuals who do not get COVID vaccinations should face financial consequences” is comparable to saying that gay men who refused celibacy and became HIV-positive “deserved what they got.” I, too, am a gay man who came out during the height of the AIDS epidemic. And yes, I painfully remember losing friends to the disease but please remember there was no vaccine to keep you from getting the virus or to at least lower your risk of dying. We have vaccines now that millions of us have taken to fend off COVID and to help protect the people we come in contact with. If someone is not willing to take the vaccine now, they absolutely should be charged extra for taking up a hospital room needed by someone who is in a serious accident or has a serious health issue that they could not prevent. I saw on the news last night that people are dying waiting for ICU beds that unvaccinated COVID patients are using. Were the ICU units turning away stroke victims because they were too full with AIDS patients back in the day? It is unfair to compare the two issues.

Mark Gildersleeve, Conroe