In response to Dr. Russell Blaylock’s latest oeuvre (“Robert Wise not wise on covid”, Feb. 17), I note three facts:
First, according to CDC data collected during the Omicron’s surge (and as reported at the NYT covid map and cases page), covid case rates are 2x as high for unvaccinated as for fully vaccinated persons; more importantly, the average daily deaths are 20x as high for unvaccinated persons as for fully vaccinated people. Twenty times the deaths! That is enough to tell any sensible person (not jammed up with internet conspiracy theories and tripe), that eschewing the covid vaccines is foolish, irresponsible, inconsiderate of everyone else, and inexcusable.
Second, on the same day Dr. Blaylock’s article appeared, the Washington Post reported “214.2 million people have been fully vaccinated in the U.S.”, including “more than 92.2 million people who have received a booster shot.” Further, according to the CDC, 81% of Americans 5+ have had at least one dose of the vaccines. (CDC.gov Covid Data Tracker). The ongoing vaccination program in the US is a testimony to the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines.
Third, Mississippi remains 20 points behind in vaccinations (62% of Mississippians 5+ having had at least one dose, versus the 81% in the nation). Further, Mississippi still has the highest death rate from covid in the US (388 per 100,000) as of February 14 (Statista.com). The anti-vaxxers have taken a toll on our beloved state. Anti-vaxxers in Mississippi continue to spew conspiracy theories to create distrust among us toward the CDC, FDA, American Academy of Pediatrics, the AMA, and the pharmaceutical companies that timely developed the miracle of the mRNA vaccines.
They have even gone after Dr. Anthony Fauci—the physician who has served as an advisor to every American president of both parties since Ronald Reagan, and who for over 50 years has dedicated his life to working for public health and safety, leading us through the nation’s most serious pandemics from AIDS on. President Bush awarded Dr. Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Is there no one anti-vaxxers in their zealotry will not trash?
As a result, even with the covid surge now rapidly declining in the state, Mississippi at this writing is still 13th from the top of states in covid case rates (NYT). And in the nation as a whole, there have been 923,000 covid deaths. Given those deaths, even with Omicron, Covid has not been, and has never been, a nothingburger--especially for the unvaccinated who are disproportionately affected because they are unprotected.
Those are the three points Dr. Blaylock needs to know. Those are three important facts anyone needs to know about covid vaccines. Excoriating the vaccines, urging Mississippians away from their protection, and treating covid vaccines differently from the tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, MMR and chickenpox vaccines we were all required to take to enter school, is wrong. Do no harm.
Robert P. Wise is a Northsider.
