Get vaccinated
Many in our Sequim community, who are fully COVID-19 vaccinated, are deeply indebted to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and to their many hardworking and organized volunteers. We are also deeply indebted to our local health care workers and first responders, many of whom have worked long hours trying to control the COVID pandemic for 18-plus long months.
These are the true heroes and heroines of a tragic time of more than 600,000 Americans dead from COVID, and many times that number, who have lost family members, loved ones,and friends, many unnecessarily.
Then, The American Rescue Act was passed in 2021, a nearly $2 trillion law, among other things, to administer COVID vaccines to the entire U.S. populace free of charge. Not one congressional Republican voted for this Act. But, as president Joe Biden noted in a speech in mid-May, many have taken credit for it anyway.
Even though Trump and his family were vaccinated before he left office, we are now in a “Covid pandemic of the unvaccinated.” It is reported that 99 percent of those dying of COVID today are unvaccinated. People who have been hospitalized with COVID have begged to be vaccinated. But, as Dr. Brytney Cobia, a doctor in Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala., told her patients regretfully, “it’s too late.”
Question: How does one get various “anti-vaxxers” to have common sense permeate their brains and get vaccinated before it’s too late?
Anti-maskers, anti-social distancers, and anti-vaxxers are vehement about having anyone infringe on their rights. When was the last time anyone tried to smoke on a commercial airplane? Answer: 2000; second hand smoke made others sick. Well, what does the COVID delta variant do? It is reportedly twice as contagious than the coronavirus of early 2020.
All the vaccines available help protect us from the delta variant causing hospitalization and death, are free, readily available and safe. I rest my case!
Richard Hahn
Sequim
Loud plane noises pose health hazard
The current AARP Bulletin reports serious health issues in its headline “Loud Noise: The Not-So-Silent Killer Is Back.” The article notes that noise exposure “increases your risk of severe stroke by 30 percent, while living in a quiet, green area can reduce it by up to 25 percent.”
Why then is the wing walker plane noise permitted to create an environment noise health hazard by its frequent noise disturbing the community?
Why do they refuse to fly further offshore or install mufflers?
Why do we have to listen to a flying Harley Davidson or stock car with straight pipes?
Betcha lots of folks coming to the area for peace and quiet go home with not very positive memories of being disturbed during their visit.
Stuart Kiehl
Sequim
