We need to stop treating COVID-vaccinated people like they’re special. If you don’t believe in vaccines, you’re probably on board with this, but if you do believe in vaccines, you hopefully also believe in science, and the science is showing us the vaccines are not stopping the spread of the virus with these new variants in play.
The vaccines are certainly important to reducing the severity of cases, which eases the burden on our health care system, and I do encourage people to get vaccinated for these reasons. We just need to stop thinking of them as a perfect method for prevention.
Pretending the vaccines make it safe to gather in large groups, quit wearing masks or give up on social distancing is only promoting the spread and worsening the problem. This should be one of those few things we can agree on, with the current factors in play vaccinated and unvaccinated people should both be playing by the same rules: wear the masks, reduce the group sizes and social distance.
I’m a Juneau resident, working a public job, and I’ve seen an uptick in people with symptoms who say we don’t need to worry about their cough because they are vaccinated. Please, call the COVID hotline at 586-6000 if you have symptoms, even if you are vaccinated.
William Giant,
Juneau
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