Dear Editor:
Kudos to Jennifer Fumiko Cahill, Thadeus Greenson and Kimberly Wear for an extremely intelligent and well written editorial (“Across Dueling Realities,” July 15) on the vaccine situation.
It’s important to remember that when the country encountered a smallpox problem, medical science solved it. When the country encountered a measles problem, medical science solved it. When the country encountered a polio problem, medical science solved it.
Why is the COVID-19 problem different? The answer is because it has become politicized. The MAGAs and the Q-Anons have decided that if the solution is promoted by Democrats then it must be wrong. Amazing. Absolutely no intelligent thinking going on here.
An incredible number of Americans have decided to drink the Kool-Aid of a demented and delusional leader. To add to the incredible situation, they seem to not realize that the greatest con man in our history has had his two shots. Where is the logic here?
It’s equally important to remember that Trump lost the election by 7 million votes — 7 million.
If his followers want to endanger themselves and their families, it’s sad that there is little that can be done.
Bill Morris, Eureka
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This article appears in The Advocate.
Bill, while I agree with your entire message, it should be noted that the smallpox vaccine was not created here in the USA. Smallpox inoculations were performed in India, certain African countries & China long before they came to Europe and then eventually, in America.
Edward Jenner, credited with discovering the use of cowpox puss instead of smallpox, was himself inoculated with smallpox as a child. Interestingly, he did not discover cowpox could be used with less risk through any sort of laboratory experimentation. It was common knowledge among diarymaids at the time that cowpox protected them against the more dangerous smallpox & he overheard them talking. Nonetheless, in 1776 he was the first to intentionally inoculate for smallpox with cowpox & he published his findings in 1798.
In 1800, Benjamin Waterhouse, professor of physics at Harvard University, requested & received the inoculate from Jenner in the UK. He then introduced vaccination in New England and persuaded Thomas Jefferson to try it in Virginia. Waterhouse received support from Jefferson, who appointed him vaccine agent in the National Vaccine Institute, an organization set up to implement a national vaccination program in the United States.
In the UK, just as with COVID there were objectors, including the local clergy, who believed that the vaccine was unchristian because it came from an animal. And as happened here with COVID, some people objected to vaccination because they believed it violated their personal liberty, a tension that worsened as the UK government developed mandatory vaccine policies and those tensions were stirred by political and religious leaders wishing to garner populist support. More info on that here: https://www.historyofvaccines.org/index.php/content/articles/history-anti-vaccination-movements