Letter: Vaccine skepticism 'increasingly untenable'

Posted 11/17/21

To the editor:

In 1919 the Volstead Act was passed, which was a nationwide mandate to make the manufacture and sale of alcohol illegal. It failed, and was repealed. We still, nonetheless, have …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Letter: Vaccine skepticism 'increasingly untenable'

Posted

To the editor:

In 1919 the Volstead Act was passed, which was a nationwide mandate to make the manufacture and sale of alcohol illegal. It failed, and was repealed. We still, nonetheless, have laws that restrict the use of alcohol; for example, people are not allowed to drive on public roads while intoxicated.  These are not mandates — we are all free to make a choice to drink, we are however, prohibited from imposing the risks of that choice on the public. 

 It is, at best, unfortunate that there is a widespread, mistaken idea that getting a Covid vaccine is a mandate. It is not a mandate, it is a choice, plain and simple. No one is attempting to force anyone be vaccinated. It is however, reasonable to insist that if you decide to avoid being vaccinated that you be prevented from imposing the risks of that decision on the public. 

The argument that there is not enough known about the vaccine might have had some validity last February. With the experience of 100-plus million vaccines that have been administered, plus the overwhelming statistics that unvaccinated people greatly increase the risk both to their own lives and the people they come in contact with, arguments against vaccination are becoming increasingly untenable.

Bob Rottmann
Little Compton
 

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.