Truth about vaccines

To the Editor:

Don't believe everything you hear, not everyone tells the truth. Even some people in high places who should know better have misinformed the public about COVID. That's why you still hear people say, “It's just a flu.” The truth is that 609,142 excess deaths occurred from 2/1/20 to 3/27/21 because COVID continues to kill, and it will keep on killing no matter what lies people believe. ( Excess deaths are defined as “the number of deaths exceeding the average total of deaths in recent years.”) (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/mortality-overview.htm)

It is going to keep coming around unless a lot more of us get vaccinated. Vaccinated people are very unlikely to get COVID, to spread it, and even more unlikely to die from it. You can protect yourself, your friends, and your family. It's the right thing to do.

Over 100 million people have been vaccinated in the U.S. Untrustworthy people will emphasize relatively rare instances or sometimes just make stuff up, but that big sample size has given us plenty of evidence that overall, vaccination is safe and it works. We can use vaccinations to put COVID behind us and go back to living right and being free.

My personal experience is that once I was vaccinated, I felt free from the worry about COVID that had been dragging me down. Postponed projects and activities with other vaccinated people are now possible. Getting the shots and feeling crummy for a day or two was no big deal considering that I was doing my part in a battle in a war against a relentless enemy that will not be stopped in any other way.

John Watson

Columbia