Santa Maria Sun / Letters to the Editor

To the anti-vax community

John Winthrop, Cayucos -

The COVID-19 pandemic rages on, and there are still tens of thousands who have yet to get vaccinated, even though the shots are free and readily available. There is no doubt this mindset is prolonging the pandemic.

Back in the early ’50s, a polio epidemic swept through this country with a vengeance. I was in grade school back then, and several of my friends came down with it. The result was withered limbs that never recovered full function, and normal lives forever changed. People were terrified. Pools were emptied, and beaches closed. It was a very frightening time.

But then Dr. Jonas Salk produced a vaccine that prevented this scourge. The shots, and later the Sabin oral vaccine, were administered to all comers. My own father, the school physician, gave us the injections in the nursing office. Magically, within months, the deadly polio epidemic was stopped in its tracks, and people’s lives returned to normal. It was truly a miracle.

The same thing could happen now with COVID-19, but you MUST get the shots first. Just do it; you won’t ever regret it.

John Winthrop
Cayucos