A nation set up to vaccinate

Re “Uncle Sam wants you vaccinated,” Opinion, April 10

How would the framers have written the Constitution if they could have foreseen the devastation caused by COVID-19?

Along the lines of the U.S. Postal Service, they would have likely specified an “Office of Vaccine Affairs.” This government agency, perhaps a semiautonomous organization, would have as its mandate and authority the creation of permanent local sites throughout the U.S. for the vaccination of the population against various infectious diseases.

This office would offer grants for the development of new vaccines and the improvement of existing ones. It would initially receive funds from the U.S. budget but would transition to collection of healthcare dollars from Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurance.

We can no longer depend on an ad hoc response to an overwhelming infectious disease for delivery of immunization to the population. We must have an ongoing and prepared infrastructure.

Stanley Rubin, M.D. Los Angeles

The writer is a professor emeritus of medicine at UCLA.

If you need a reason to get vaccinated, perhaps you should do it for the frontline responders, including doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff.

They’ve contracted COVID-19, and they’ve died. They’ve seen enough. Don’t make them see even one more case — certainly not you.

Richard Conant Playa del Rey

Re “Seniors’ vaccine rates vary,” April 12

I read about the state urging people in red parts of California to get vaccinated.

The governor should simply urge residents of those red areas to skip the vaccine. This will probably result in record turnout with huge numbers rolling up their sleeves for a jab while saying Gov. Gavin Newsom cannot tell them what to do.

Reggie Kenner Manhattan Beach