Listen to un-vaxxed with respect, curiosity | Letter to the editor

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Those who strongly believe in the value of COVID vaccination should think twice before bashing all those who choose not to be vaccinated. Bill Mann’s Aug. 25 column lumps them together as boneheads, clueless, MAGA-centric, dolts, pariahs, intransigent, ignorant, knuckle-draggers. 

What good does it do, to angrily bad-mouth them? The best thing to do, if you believe vaccination saves lives, is to succeed in increasing the number of those changing their minds and getting vaccinated. And calling them names will certainly not accomplish that.

I know a number of people who are by no means selfish, stupid, or uninformed, who distrust corporations and politicians — the source of support for DDT, Round-up, Chernobyl, radiation poisoning, Love Canal, cover-ups of dangers of tobacco and of climate change — and believe that the risks of vaccination may outweigh the benefits. 

I have also seen some of them decide, in spite of their misgivings, that the time has come to get vaccinated anyway.

Listen with respect and curiosity. Provide encouragement and information to increase the number of vaccinations. That’s a lot more likely to save lives.

Maraiah Lynn Nadeau
PORT TOWNSEND