I had to ponder the logic of the recent letter writer who questions whether children really need COVID vaccines, explaining that fewer than 500 children have died from COVID, while more children have been killed in car crashes within the same time period ("Do kids really need this?" Readers Write, Sept. 22).
Is the number of tragic deaths in car crashes the threshold by which we measure whether we should be alarmed? I think not. If even a relatively small number of children are injured or killed by a toy, household product or pool drain, for example, we immediately spring into action, pulling products off of shelves and enacting more stringent safety regulations. We don't say, "Well, it's only a few kids. The numbers aren't high enough to warrant our concern."
And those deaths in car crashes? We mourn each loss and diligently work to bring those numbers down, requiring specialized car seats for infants and toddlers, wearing seat belts and enforcing myriad traffic laws for public safety.
It amazes me that people have such skepticism toward COVID vaccines, yet once they are needing hospitalization and treatment, they avail themselves of any and all cutting-edge therapeutic measures to get well. Not being able to breathe evokes a willingness to accept lifesaving measures, even if they are only recently developed.
My response to the writer of the letter is this: If you do not wish to vaccinate your children, at least get vaccinated yourself. Don't join the legions of parents tragically dying from COVID (perhaps those numbers seem high enough to warrant action?), leaving behind children suffering immeasurable loss.
Lisa Wersal, Vadnais Heights
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This letter writer appears to get her information from the Wall Street Journal opinion pieces or Fox News appearances of Marty Makary, M.D., a Johns Hopkins tenured (can't be fired) professor of surgical oncology — not an infectious disease doctor. On Feb. 18, Makary wrote a WSJ commentary titled "We'll have herd immunity by April." Oops. He continues to write opinions debunked by experts in epidemiology and infectious disease. It is part of his limelight-seeking pattern based on spurious claims, going back to when he wrote a book titled "Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You," suggesting hospital medical errors were a leading cause of death — something that has been totally debunked by experts evaluating his data analysis.