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Put the odds in your favor

EDITOR:

Are you insured? I’m not talking about house or car; I’m talking about health and life insurance. Not the kind you get from Blue Cross or New York Life, I’m talking about the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. That is the only policy I feel gives me the statistically assurance that I won’t die from COVID even if I contract it.

The U.S. recently passed the 800,000-death mark and the United States just won the title of the most recorded COVID deaths of any other country in the world. Each day there are more than 100,000 cases identified and 1,300 people are still dying daily in the U.S. The Dickinson County COVID count is in the newspaper nearly every day. In a recent two-day period, 19 positive cases were reported. (Figures were taken from National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dickinson-Iron District Health Department websites.)

Hospitals overflow with patients who have made the choice not to be vaccinated. This affects people who have sudden medical emergencies that require a hospital bed and many times one is not available. Because of the influx of unvaccinated in hospitals, routine surgeries have to be postponed, which causes hospitals to lose much-needed revenue.

I struggle each day trying to find compassion for those who are not vaccinated. I have family members who are not vaccinated and I struggle with my feelings of love and disgust for putting compromised family members at risk. If this was a war, over 30% of Americans would be fighting for the other side, as that is the estimated number of non-vaxers.

The newest variant, omicron, may be the most transmissible disease in history. Unless we can get a handle on this, it won’t be the last variant, as that is how viruses work. If so, we all will probably be infected and if you have been fully vaccinated and boosted your chances of survival are very good. For those who are not, your future looks grim, I fear.

Of course, nothing is 100% except death and taxes, and I want to live to pay my taxes another year. Not that I love taxes, I just love life enough to do whatever I can to protect mine, my family’s, my friends’ and to protect yours, because that is what a responsible person does to protect their community and country in my opinion.

To quote Dirty Harry, “You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya?”

Lynne Wilson

Iron Mountain

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