Unfounded rumors

In “The road back to normalcy has a two-poke toll” (May 5), Shawn Vestal argues that unless more people get vaccinated, COVID-19 is liable to linger, prolonging restrictions. That is almost certainly true.

Among the causes of vaccine hesitancy he cites is “conspiratorial claptrap in the alternative-universe of right-wing media.” This raised the hackles of John Weisenburger, who responded by calling Vestal a “deranged partisan Democrat” (“Democrats like Vestal are the problem,” May 13). But again, Vestal is almost certainly right. Fox News and right-wing talk radio have been peddling misleading stories and outright lies for decades. Currently they are pushing the democracy-destroying lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

Consider Tucker Carlson. This man, who has ascribed Texas’ power grid failure to windmills, has also suggested that COVID-19 vaccines have killed thousands. Even if that were true, 1 death for every 50,000 shots would compare rather favorably to 1 death for every 100 cases of COVID-19. But it’s a reckless falsehood. Carlson is misinterpreting data from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. To understand, see the CDC’s own explanations by Googling “Selected Adverse Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccination,” or go to Politifact. (Politifact calls out lies, left and right.)

We should be celebrating the genius and pertinacity of the scientists and technicians who developed the Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J vaccines, the exemplary steps taken to ensure the vaccines’ safety, and the remarkable transparency of the process. What we shouldn’t be doing is sowing fear by spreading unfounded rumors.

Brian Keeling

Spokane