Dear Editor:
Re: No right to cause harm, April 8.
The letter in question accused a previous writer, who challenged state authority to force everyone to accept a COVID-19 vaccine, of causing harm.
It dramatically implied that those who received the injection wouldn’t cause harm – and were, by extension, of higher moral authority than “the great explorers” who were guilty of “killing half the New World’s population with smallpox…”
It then used this history cudgel to force submission, asserting the only way to “beat this pandemic is to get everybody vaccinated … and give up a few freedoms for a while.”
However, in an interview on March 27, Dr. Anothony Fauci was asked whether being vaccinated meant you wouldn’t spread the virus. He responded by warning, “You may inadvertently infect someone else, even though you are protected.”
“It’s much harder for vaccinated people to get infected, but don’t think for one second that they cannot get infected,” Paul Duprex, director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, told the New York Times.
The CDC and the Journal of the American Medical Association cover vaccines thoroughly, including past failures associated with some medications and vaccines that were clinically tested and FDA approved. You don’t need to go to conspiracy websites; the official ones do give both sides of the story, i.e., the successes and the failures.
Tragically, it has taken too long for the failures to be revealed, typically because clinical trials and product releases were both rushed, and post-market adverse events were under-reported and slow to come in. Much has been written about this – it’s a matter of historical fact; not conjecture.
One final – and critical – point regarding history lessons. Ben Franklin said “They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Terence Rothwell,
Wellington North
Editor’s note: Reactions can occur with all vaccines, but serious side effects are extremely rare. Recent studies suggest that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine not only significantly reduces the risk of developing the illness, it also significantly reduces transmission. Anyone with concerns about COVID-19 vaccines should consult their doctor.