×

Get your shot!

To the Journal editor:

Viruses don’t think or have desires. They are submicroscopic infectious agents that replicate only inside the living cells of an organism. As they replicate in their hosts, over and over and over, occasional variations occur.

Some of these inevitable variations may increase or impair the resulting variant’s capacity to reproduce, while other variations may make the virus much better at infecting new hosts with deadlier results. Such appears to be the case with the COVID-19 Delta variant sweeping across the U.S. right now.

So far, fully vaccinated people appear to be almost perfectly protected from the Delta variant of the virus. Unvaccinated people, on the other hand, are virtual sitting sitting ducks for this more easily spread and deadlier version of COVID.

The virus doesn’t know or care who Dr. Fauci is or if the election was stolen. The virus is like a horrible, deadly seed blowing in the wind, infecting and quite possibly killing whichever human host it happens to contact.

Each of these new hosts becomes a new opportunity for the virus to replicate. It replicates millions and millions of times. Each new copy may become an even deadlier, more virulent version of the virus. On and on it will go until all variants of the virus run out of suitable new hosts to infect.

That day will only occur when a critical mass of human beings on the planet become immune from infection through vaccination. The degree to which we humans allow willful ignorance, wishful thinking, outdated superstitions, mindless nationalism, xenophobia, and selfishness to delay or deny people around the globe the ability to be rapidly vaccinated, will determine when and if Covid ever becomes a thing of the past.

In the near future, those U.S. states with low vaccination rates may pay a painful price for taking this mindless, heartless killer for granted. For the record, that’s Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Mississippi. I really hope I’m wrong.

In the month’s ahead try to think of the Earth as a huge petri dish. If you choose not to get vaccinated, you’ll be risking your life and, ultimately, the lives of all other unvaccinated people around the planet. I got vaccinated to protect myself, my family and friends and, well, you.

So far, the U.S. has pledged to send 25 million doses to other countries. There’s 7 billion people on Earth. Clock’s ticking.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today