Anti-vaccine ‘logic’ is lacking
Mr. Courtney’s column (Daily News, Feb. 16) illustrates that identity, not logic, fuels anti-vaccine sentiment. In the months before Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine was granted full FDA approval for people 16 and older in August 2021, the notion that it was “experimental” provided cover for anti-vaxxers to drag their heels and spread fear.
Ironically, many people who refused vaccines treated COVID-19 with drugs that are not FDA-approved for that use. As Courtney states, ivermectin is not approved by the FDA for use against COVID-19 in the U.S. A thoughtful person might ask: How can someone who refuses a vaccine because it hasn’t been granted full FDA approval peddle medicines that lack approval even for emergency use? Courtney has an old conspiracy theory chestnut at the ready: because the FDA is a government agency, he “believes” its scientific recommendations are purely political and thus can be safely ignored. This argument against vaccines hinges on the unhinged opinion that the FDA is out to get us. To the contrary, the FDA worked diligently to make sure the vaccines developed under the previous administration are safe. So diligently that it wasn’t until last month that Moderna’s vaccine was granted full FDA approval for adults.
The embarrassingly low vaccination rate in Whitman County endangers us all. Please get vaccinated to protect you and your family from serious illness and death. And if you’re concerned about what your Facebook friends will think, then keep your decision private.
Mr. Courtney and his ilk won’t know you chose to do the caring and, yes, patriotic thing even though they — like all of us — will benefit from the community protection your vaccination provides. I’m thankful Mr. Courtney survived COVID-19. I grieve for the more than 925,000 Americans, including my grandfather, who did not.
Luke Premo
Pullman
