Opinion
4A
Saturday, April 24, 2021
My Voice
Getting vaccinated
is a civic
responsibility —
and the time is now
accine hesitancy has emerged as an important
issue in our society. For several reasons a signif-
icant segment of our population is reluctant to
receive the vaccine for COVID-19. It may be argued that
any reason at all is adequate for people to refuse to be
vaccinated.
It might be seen as a personal freedom to refuse to
be vaccinated.
However, I do
not think that
DALE LAURITZEN such a posi-
tion is best for
LA GRANDE
our society as a
whole.
The central issue has to do with achieving herd
immunity. Various estimates exist concerning the per-
centage of the population that has to be immunized
in order to reach herd immunity. These estimates
range from about 70% to 90% of the population. The
critical level will be reached when the pathogen lit-
erally runs out of hosts to perpetuate its viability.
Then, according to the experts, the virus will whither
away. Because of this it appears that it is time to make
COVID-19 immunizations mandatory.
We hear various arguments that maintain that civic
responsibility should be the only force to ensure that
people receive the vaccine.
A variety of arguments are used to resist manda-
tory inoculations. Some of the arguments include the
following:
1) Needle fear. Of course no one looks forward to
have a needle injected into your arm. However, it is a
nearly painless procedure.
2) Belief in conspiracy theories. Such theories may
suggest that people will develop long-range health
problems if they take the vaccine. Of course there
is no way to guarantee that absolutely no one might
develop complications resulting from any immuni-
zation, but those kinds of outcomes are statistically
much less dangerous than the possible results of actu-
ally catching COVID-19. The deaths of more than half
a million U.S. citizens from COVID-19 is evidence of
that.
3) Self-isolation. This view maintains that some
people live such a sheltered existence that they are not
likely to be exposed to the disease. Good luck!
I suspect the most common anti-vaxxer argument
is that to mandate people to take the vaccine is an
infringement on their personal rights and freedoms.
This is probably the least credible argument of all.
The truth is that we limit individual behaviors all the
time in order to protect the common good.
Such restrictions include speed laws, licensing
laws and public behavior restrictions (try getting
away with wearing no clothes in public). Ironically,
we demand that all children must be vaccinated
against certain diseases before they are allowed to
attend schools.
It might be possible to defeat the pandemic and
allow some people not to be immunized. Perhaps
everyone who receives the vaccine could be given a
“vaccine passport.” Obviously everyone who refuses
to be immunized would not be given such a doc-
ument. There would be severe restrictions placed
on non-passport holders. They could be prevented
from leaving their homes, attending school or on-site
work, as well as be unable to go to public spaces
such as restaurants and supermarkets until the pan-
demic ends.
Of course the best way to deal with the current
health crisis is for everyone to exercise their own civic
responsibility. To do so they would line up, roll up
their sleeves and protect both themselves and the rest
of society. Although great progress has been made
(131,000,000 people have received at least on shot
at this time), it is not enough. It is time to guarantee
that everyone perform their civic responsibility or be
legally required to do so.
Perhaps the dumbest thing we could do is to allow
what has happened in India during the last few weeks.
Of course India faces challenges that we do not, but
their numbers of COVID-19 cases have sky-rocketed.
They are seeing up to one-third of a million reported
new cases every day.
We have the resources and need only the com-
mitment to make sure this does not happen in the
United States. It is time to be certain that everyone is
vaccinated.
———
Dale Lauritzen of La Grande is a native Nebraskan
and remains a Cornhusker. He received his academic
degrees at the University of Nebraska and worked as
a social studies teacher and a professor of teacher
education. He now is a dedicated golfer, enthusiastic
angler and an avid traveler.
V
My Voice
Better accessibility would improve life for many
MATTHEW
BRINEY
LA GRANDE
y name is Matthew Briney
and I am a resident of La
Grande who has a disability.
I grew up in Union County. My family
moved to Cove from Island City for
my education to accommodate with
my disability, cerebral palsy.
After I graduated from high
school, my family moved to down-
town La Grande for the convenience
of not having to travel 20 minutes
constantly from Cove to La Grande.
This makes doing errands and our
activities easier. I was planning to go
to college at Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity, and my father would be closer to
where he works. The advantage of the
house that we moved into was that the
college was just a block away and up
a hill.
While living in La Grande comes
with many benefits, there is a subtle
M
obstacle that became much more
noticeable as I lived in La Grande
for a while. This obstacle that I have
experienced is an accessibility issue.
See, before this pandemic shut-
down, I enjoyed taking walks, or
“scrolls” in my case, in the spring
and summer. Especially, if you live
downtown, the walking distance to
most if not all places is reasonable.
In summer, I would like to “walk”
to the farmers market on Saturday
and to Cook Memorial Library or Le
Bebe Cakes Bakery every so often.
Despite having activities be so close,
the majority of the sidewalks aren’t
accessible and don’t have curb cuts.
This makes getting around this
town challenging not only for the
elderly, but for the people like me
who have a disability that affects their
mobility. When I go somewhere or
just for a walk in general, it tends to
feel like a maze trying to navigate and
to find wheelchair-friendly sidewalks
that I can safely get on/off of with my
electric wheelchair.
Without these essential curb cuts,
oftentimes I had been forced to drive
Letters
Munck is my hometown hero
Bailey Munck. What an incredible “silence
breaker” at 17 years old. She too deserves to be on
the cover of Time magazine, like the women in 2017
who launched the “me too” movement and began to
hold accountable men who abuse their power and
take.
I’m proud of my dad, state Sen. Bill Hansell,
for not just listening to his constituents but taking
action, for advocating to close the existing loop-
hole that allows teachers be held to a lesser account
in how they behave with students than coaches are.
It’s time to fix that loophole. Bailey and her family
picked the right senator. My dad, with five daugh-
ters, has been advocating for equity and opportunity
for women throughout his entire career.
The recent article on “Bailey’s Bill” liter-
ally brought me to tears. As described, Bailey
“enduring” sexual harassment from her English
teacher, at home, during school and at sporting
events shows that more must be done to ready con-
sequences for teachers that take and abuse.
I’d put her friends, the ones on the bus that came
alongside Bailey and heard her story and encour-
aged her to share, on the cover of Time magazine
as well. They are young women that are saying “No
More” and holding their predator teacher DeYoe
accountable. I hope and encourage them to keep
their voice and use it always.
Bailey, with courage, is sharing her story,
speaking a powerful truth, and seeking justice.
I have a new hero from my Athena hometown —
Bailey Munck.
Elizabeth Hansell
Santa Monica, California
on the side of roads, which isn’t ideal
and is a safety hazard. There are other
times when I am fortunate enough to
use the sidewalks but to do so I have
to go the opposite direction than I
intend until I have a chance to cross
over, including driving up driveways.
For example, the block where I live
doesn’t have any curb cuts, meaning
I have to use my neighbor’s driveway
to get to my house, which is an
inconvenience.
This is a problem that really
needs to be fixed. Updating these
old sidewalks would make life easier
for residents of this town, especially
those who are disabled or who are
elderly.
I hope writing about this topic can
bring awareness and make accessi-
bility a priority not only in La Grande,
but to Union Country as well.
———
Matthew Briney graduated from
Cove High School and is a La Grande
resident. He is passionate about
writing, being active in the commu-
nity and sharing his experiences as a
person who has a disability.
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