Thank you so, so much, Mountain Xpress, for your in-depth article [“Side Effects: Local Handling of COVID Vaccine Troubles Breeds Medical Mistrust,” Jan. 12].
There is evidence of mass suppression of this real information by most media outlets, and your willingness to help inform your readers about something so potentially dangerous is admirable and necessary.
I have personally chosen to not be vaccinated, and after seeing three people I know end up in hospitals soon after receiving their vaccines, my caution is justified. If more people knew about the very real dangers, they would not be so quick to condemn those of us wanting to preserve our health.
It is a choice to be vaccinated or not, and the better informed people are, and not just by the institutions pushing for vaccination, the more we are able to make the right choice for ourselves.
— Jason Ference
Swannanoa
Re: “mass suppression…by most media outlets”.
I find this assertion unbelievable without presenting the evidence that supports it. I admit I am biased as a physician (currently retired and volunteering at Asheville’s free Doctor’s Clinic), but I can be convinced by facts.
The headline in the email that linked me to this post stated that “Readers Debate…”. You know what? As a scientist I must point out that luckily for the integrity of our society, science is based on empirical evidence – things that are measured. This means that “debate” is not how evidence is interpreted. COVID-19 is the 8th cause of death among children this year. That finding is sad and it is not something to debate. Whether or not people are to be required to be vaccinated is not a scientific question – it is a policy decision that should be subject to debate. I am sad when our policy debates do not focus on data from science – like if we know the leading causes of death and we can do something about it, why are we ignoring the dead children – or the orphans who lost their parents? I once lived in South America where I saw a dead child laying beside the road – from a traffic accident. How barbaric, I thought! In the US we work hard to protect our children – or do we? I’ve always felt proud to live in a country where we protect our most vulnerable citizens. Let’s proudly keep them safe whenever science shows us how.
Yep your choice, so go out and round up all your partners that have chosen to opt out of the vaccine and don’t go to the hospital when one becomes distressed !! You might say, because you have managed to stay healthy while other vaccinated folks end up in the hospital, what is the point ? Us vaccinated folk are willing and attempting to keep the virus at bay.