Dear Editor: COVID-19 Vaccs

Dear Editor,

Again, I felt compelled to voice my opinion on the question of vaccination, particularly for the COVID-19 “virus.“

As I said in my previous letter on this subject, I do not plan to get vaccinated, but neither will I condemn (or ridicule) those who do. I mentioned the immune system thing, how many people, both young and old (mostly elderly, maybe), in the day and age in which we live, have a compromised immune system. If they have one at all? I’d be willing to say, with some surety, that people in general today are more unhealthy than those who lived between fifty and one hundred years ago. Any objection to the above statement could easily be answered by how much we rely on pharmaceuticals to retain any measure of health. That might be a different subject for a different letter, though...

TO VAX OR NOT TO VAX- that is the question! Would it hurt you to get it, if by doing so, you might lessen the chance of passing the “virus” to a friend or loved one? Or at least, ease their mind about it?

In my limited understanding, yes, it could well hurt you to receive the COVID-19 shot. The chances of it doing so, though, being probably very similar to your chances of being afflicted without receiving the vaccine; I will likely, aside from being forced to, probably not be getting vaccinated for the COVID-19 “virus!”

Do I care about those around me? Am I being selfish for not getting the shot, when, at the very least, it would ease the minds of many of those around me? I do not feel that I’m being selfish. Now, if it were proven, to my satisfaction, that this vaccine would significantly reduce, if not totally remove the chance of getting the disease, I would probably be more easily convinced. As the case may be, the “evidence” to the contrary is far too weighty for my liking!

Anyone who reads this is more than welcome to endeavor to change my mind. In fact, I wish you luck with that. But until and if, I stand where I stand, healthy immune system and all, with no judgement.

Thanks for listening,

Charles Haddon Shank

Whitehall, Montana