Dangerous advocating

“We believe that regardless of vaccine availability and effectiveness, it should not be mandated as terms for employment.” So say Holy, Volz and Graham in their Nov. 2 guest opinion (“Gov. Inslee continues his one-man show to the detriment of core democratic values”).

In the present context, they are advocating a dangerous and socially irresponsible position. Who doesn’t want to be “free”? We all are in some ways members of what Sean Vestal (October 6) described as the “Church of You Can’t Tell Me What to Do.” But our fate is collective and the evidence is mounting that vaccinations, mandated if necessary, are the primary tool we have to deal with a pandemic that is unprecedented in our lifetimes.

It is remarkable that scientists were able to build on basic research about bacterial resistance to viral infection, sequence the genome for SARS-CoV 2, and rapidly create vaccines that are safe and effective. Physicians understand all this, and the vast majority eagerly sought out the vaccine.

While the majority of the population at large has followed suit, in the case of a virus this infectious and capable of even more lethal mutations, we need to have almost everyone vaccinated, everywhere. There are exceedingly few people with sound medical reasons for not doing so, and our society can and should accommodate those with legitimate needs. However, we cannot and should not accommodate too many people who consider refraining from getting vaccinated an acceptable personal choice, rather than an abrogation of public duty.

Our fate is collective, even if Republicans don’t like to think in those terms.

Ron Doyen

Spokane