Letters Mischaracterized Garcia

In re: “Proof in the Vaccine Pudding,” Thomas Oatway, letters, April 29.

Perhaps Mr. Oatway would be so kind as to provide the readers with the information he used to include Rep. Mike Garcia into his tirades against former President Donald Trump and all Republicans in regards to COVID-19 vaccines and lack of support for Ukraine (letters, April 20). Readers can view the article in this paper about Congressman Garcia’s recent visit to Poland, where he met with U.S. troops as well as with Ukrainian refugees. He voiced his complete support for Ukraine in their war against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of their country.

And here’s the congressman’s views on the vaccine that Mr. Oatway wants readers to assume he is against. From Congressman Garcia’s Congressional website, Feb. 18, 2021:

“This week, Rep. Mike Garcia (CA-25), Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Representative Young Kim (CA-39) and eight other California lawmakers sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom seeking answers to the state of California’s chaotic rollout of COVID-19 vaccine distribution. In the letter, the lawmakers demanded Gov. Newsom provide answers on the questions regarding the number of unused COVID-19 vaccines.”

Doesn’t really sound like something an anti-vaccination kook would do!

And if Mr. Oatway is going to use “studies” to bolster his viewpoints, it might be educational and prudent if he included the names of these studies so the readers can view them and make up their own minds as to their accuracy and value since there have been “studies” on this virus and the vaccines since the outbreak that are completely contradicting of each other.

I’ve stopped counting how many times Dr. Anthony Fauci has changed his positions and views on the virus as well as the vaccines.

I am a 74-year-old conservative who has been vaccinated, boosted and also contracted the virus naturally. I have never been sick, never run a fever, and would have never known I had the virus had I not gone in and taken a blood test to find out. For those who are unaware, the antibodies from the virus are different from those provided by the vaccines and a blood test can tell the difference.

And in case Mr. Oatway missed it, perhaps he should note that Black people are far more likely to be unvaccinated than are white people, according to numerous studies such as the one by Texas A&M in 2020. And last time I checked the vast majority of Black voters (approximately 90% in the 2020 election) vote for the Democrat candidate, not the Republican.

I personally know several people who are lifelong liberal Democrats who refused to get the vaccine.

Believe it or not, Mr. Oatway not EVERYTHING is a Republican-Democrat issue and in my interactions with my fellow human beings over the years I have found that the typical political stereotypes the news media loves so much don’t always ring true when dealing with individual people.

Perhaps a researcher will come up with a vaccine to cure Mr. Oatway’s political obsessions! Rick Barker

Valencia

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