'Like Drunk Drivers'

Editor:

Anti-vaxers are like drunk drivers, maybe worse (Mailbox, Jan. 16). Both anti-vaxers and drunk drivers think that what they want to do is more important than other people’s lives. Many drunk drivers acknowledge that drunk driving is wrong. But they delude themselves: “But I’m not drunk” or “I can handle it.” Anti-vaxers don’t even admit they’re doing wrong. Some get very sanctimonious, claiming it’s their constitutional right. It’s not. Read the Constitution! There is nothing in the Constitution that allows an individual to “pursue happiness” in such a way as to harm others. That would include causing avoidable deaths.

At present there is a flu epidemic that is killing more people than COVID (which also can be prevented with a vaccine). And there is a whooping cough epidemic. Some people cough so hard they crack a rib. But the great majority of people who die from whooping cough are infants — because they’re too young to receive vaccines. Is avoiding an injection worth an infant’s life? Or the lives of seniors or people who have chronic diseases? There are significant criminal penalties for drunk driving. Anti-vaxers should be dealt with the same way.

Robert Argenbright, McKinleyville