‘Get the vaccine, wear a mask, have a clue. And grow up’
Re “Irked by mask rules? Blame Trump,” column, July 18
I’ve had enough. People wanted to be free — to take off their masks, to shop, to eat out. They wanted California open, so much that a recall against Gov. Gavin Newsom was launched. He pushed hard to get as many people vaccinated as possible, and he finally gave in to the pressure to fully reopen. The stubbornly unvaccinated, either in the name of freedom or because they listened to disinformation, took off their masks. They knew no one would challenge them to prove their vaccination status. They have provided fertile ground for the extra-contagious Delta variant.
Now, L.A. County has reinstituted a universal indoor mask mandate. People lament the step backward, but their reward for masking up and getting vaccinated should be the welfare of all and a slowing of the spread of COVID-19.
Newsom, who is trying to avoid being recalled, is unlikely to reinstitute any statewide mandates. So, we are left with a county-by-county decision. Los Angeles’ grandstanding sheriff will not enforce the county’s mask mandate. Businesses are left to risk the ire of their customers by insisting on masking.
The very people who decry the limitations in the name of personal liberty are the ones who fuel the spread of the virus and the mutations, which cause officials to take steps in an attempt to stamp them out.
People: The virus will not go away because you want it to or because you are tired of it. Get the vaccine, wear a mask, have a clue.
And grow up.
Elise Power, Garden Grove