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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2021)
Opinion 4A Thursday, January 21, 2021 Our View Gov. Brown is right to be frustrated I n retrospect, the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic was lackluster at best and nothing illustrates that better than the recent confusion — and apparent lack of plan- ning — over the distribution of the vaccine. Surely we can do better. Readers may recall that late last week the state backed off on its earlier pledge to allow teachers and Oregonians older than 65 to receive the vaccine later this month. Now, because of an apparent lack of vaccine supplies, teachers and educators can start to receive the vaccine Jan. 25. People older than 80 can get the first shot Feb. 8. Gov. Kate Brown blamed the Trump adminis- tration. She announced on Friday, Jan. 15, there will be no upsurge in vaccine shipments because there is no national reserve. Brown said she would demand answers from the Trump administration and she was “shocked and appalled” the federal government can’t deliver on its promises regarding the vaccine. We can sympathize with the governor. The sentiments of shock and confusion and frustration have become, by now, familiar earmarks of the pandemic. The sad fact, though, is it never had to be this way. We are a great nation able to manufacture state-of-the-art weapons and cutting-edge vehi- cles. We could, if we wanted, nearly feed the world with our strong agriculture industry. Yet, we couldn’t manage to overcome a virus that should never have been a surprise. Since the 1990s medical experts, journalists and other experts warned that a major pandemic — mostly likely the flu — would descend on the world soon. Reams of reports and a steady diet of nonfiction books carefully painted the danger looming on the horizon. Nobody listened. When the pandemic did arrive on our shores, politics, incompetency and a misguided approach stagnated the federal government’s response. The federal government took a 19th century view of the crisis and turned over the day-to-day battle against the virus to the states. Brown is right to be frustrated. The rest of us should be, too. The only way to fight our way out of this pandemic is through vaccinations. Without a vaccine, the pandemic rolls on. President-elect Joe Biden has proclaimed he will release more vaccine and faster than the Trump administration. We hope that is true. Because the nation does not need more lip ser- vice when it comes to fighting the virus. And fighting a pandemic, with essentially one arm tied behind the back, hasn’t worked and won’t work. Write to us EDITORIALS Unsigned editorials are the opinion of The Observer editorial board. Other col- umns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of The Observer. LETTERS • The Observer welcomes letters to the editor. We edit letters for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We will not pub- lish consumer complaints against businesses, per- sonal attacks against pri- vate individuals or com- ments that can incite violence. We also dis- courage thank-you letters. • Letters should be no longer than 350 words and must be signed and carry the author’s name, address and phone number (for ver- ification only). We will not publish anonymous letters. • Letter writers are lim- ited to one letter every two weeks. • Longer community com- ment columns, such as My Voice, must be no more than 700 words. Writers must provide a recent headshot and a one-sen- My Voice Why I will get a COVID-19 vaccine JADE McDOWELL HERMISTON HERALD s the first vaccines for COVID-19 are distrib- uted to those at the front of the line, Americans have a choice about whether to receive the vaccine themselves. I am not a doctor qualified to give medical advice, and I also can’t tell the future. But I am sharing why I plan to get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available to me. First, I trust the safety and effec- tiveness of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, as do people in the medical field I respect, and millions of other health care professionals the world over who have so far received their first dose. Given the way some politicians have tried to inappropriately politi- cize government messaging on the pandemic, I get why Americans are hesitant in trusting what they are hearing. But these vaccines were developed by private companies and have been scrutinized and approved many times over by regulatory agen- cies around the world, in countries across the spectrum of political lean- ings. Some states within the United States set up their own panels of experts to judge the vaccine, and the data from trials has been made public. The most common doubt I hear is, “How was this vaccine developed in such an unprecedented amount A tence biography. Like let- ters to the editor, columns must refrain from com- plaints against businesses or personal attacks against private individuals. Sub- missions must carry the author’s name, address and phone number. • Submission does not guarantee publication, which is at the discretion of the editor. SEND LETTERS TO: letters@lagrandeobserver. com or via mail to editor Phil Wright, 911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850 of time?” But the scale of this effort — from the funding to the number of people involved to the level of collaboration — also is completely unprecedented. If you have always put together jigsaw puzzles by your- self and one day you invite three friends to help, it would not be sur- prising if the puzzle came together faster than usual. Even though this specific variety of coronavirus is new, scientists were studying the idea of coronavirus vac- cines after past outbreaks of COVID- 19’s cousins, SARS and MERS. Researchers say that data was invaluable in providing a head start. Medical science also has advanced greatly since the advent of vaccines for diseases such as polio. If I asked you what would happen if you dropped a bowling ball off the roof of your house, you might confi- dently tell me the ball would quickly drop to the ground. It wouldn’t matter if you had never specifically dropped a bowling ball off your roof before; you know how gravity works, and you have seen how bowling balls behave in other circumstances. Sim- ilarly, despite having never encoun- tered this specific virus before, scientists had a wide body of knowl- edge about viruses and the immune system. Others are concerned about pos- sible complications. It is true a small percentage of people have had significant allergic reactions to the vaccine. But they have recov- ered thanks to the EpiPens that in most cases they carried because of severe allergies to other substances. The same thing would happen if you gave several million people peanuts, or eggs or bread. While there is no way to 100% guarantee none of the COVID-19 vaccines have any long-term side effects, the science behind them is considered sound, and there is no indication so far there will be problems. We have plenty of documentation of long-term side effects for COVID- 19. So far, 1.7% of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the United States have died from it. In Oregon, 5.7% of people who have tested pos- itive have been hospitalized during their illness. A growing number of other Americans have been disabled by flu-like symptoms going on nine months now, or have experienced permanent lung damage, heart damage, short term memory loss, loss of taste or smell, kidney failure or other lasting side effects. Nothing in life is without risk, but the odds of living the rest of my life in good health seem far better with the vaccine than with COVID-19. The past year has been miserable, and I want to get back to “normal” life. I’m tired of people who com- plain constantly about the pan- demic and yet refuse to wear masks, social distance, get a vaccine or do literally anything to help things change. I’m willing to do my part to improve our circumstances, and I hope others will be, too. ——— Jade McDowell is editor of the Hermiston Herald, part of the EO Media Group. Contact your public officials STATE OFFICIALS Gov. Kate Brown 900 Court Street N.E., Suite 254 Salem, OR 97301-4047 503-378-4582 Sen. Bill Hansell, District 29 900 Court St. N.E., S-423 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Sen.BillHansell@oregon- legislature.gov Rep. Bobby Levy, District 58 900 Court St. N.E., H-376, Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1458 Rep.BobbyLevy@oregon- legislature.gov UNITED STATES OFFICIALS President Joseph Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 www.whitehouse.gov/ contact Sen. Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244 La Grande office: 541-962-7691 Sen. Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753; Pendleton office: 541-278-1129 Rep. Cliff Bentz 1239 Longworth House Office building Washington, D.C., 20515; 202-225-6730 Medford office: 541-776-4646
