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Wednesday,May26,2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
OPINION
The opinions expressed in the letters below are “your voice,” and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Columbia Gorge News, its staff, publisher or advertisers.
YOUR VOICE
Thank you!
Must be May
I would like the people of The
Dalles to know how lucky we are to
have police and firemen that will go
beyond the call of duty to help us.
At about 3 a.m. I had my kitchen
flooded. I called 911. Policeman
Doug Cramer came and got the
water shut off and proceeded to
clean up the water and Captain
Steve Brown arrived and proceeded
to help also.
The work they did was way be-
yond the call of duty, and so much
appreciated!
They deserve lots of thanks.
Zelta Wasson
The Dalles
Safety first
Please, 25 MPH means just that,
25 MPH. Let’s be aware of our speed
whilst traveling May Street and
know it’s OK to slow down.
Natasha Markovich
Hood River
Kudos for Bentz
I am very appreciative of
Congressman Cliff Bentz who,
against strong political headwinds
from Republican Congressional
leadership and the ex-president,
voted in support of creating an
independent commission to learn
what led up to the violent Jan. 6 in-
surrection and storming of the U.S.
Capitol. I agree with Congressman
Bentz that we need to learn what
happened and take steps to ensure
it won’t happen again.
While I cannot fathom why every
congressperson wasn’t on board
in voting for the commission, I’m
thankful our representative voted
for uncovering the facts, and sup-
porting the Constitution and the
rule of law over party politics.
Bruce Ruttenburg
Hood River
It’s about the land
How strange when people
condemn the Hebrew Scriptures
without ever reading them. How in
the world does one do that? Is that
fair and honest or even reasonable?
Well, I acted exactly the same
many years ago. Why do people
Rose bushes are in bloom next to Columbia Gorge News' The Dalles office on W. 10th Street.
condemn the Hebrew writings
without ever touching them, let
alone read them? It is easy. It is
easier to bash them than to take the
time to read any of it. I did it. Why?
What was my reasoning based
on? Same as yours. Pastor and the
church system destroy all respect
these books deserve. If I read them
would I act and speak like that?
It is impossible (nearly) to
convince a reasonable intelligent
person to touch the books let
alone read a chapter of these very
mysterious maligned Hebrew
Scriptures.
So how does someone like me
with the duty and responsibility to
inform one individual in the com-
munity that the Hebrew Scriptures
hold the one truth when there is
such contempt? Trust me it ain’t
easy. Since living in the Gorge no
one has taken my suggestion. That
is how much hate and contempt
people have for a book they know
nothing about. I did not know either
until I studied and examined it.
Jacob Bertram photo
Suggestion: Don’t focus on the
“miracles.” Don’t be concerned with
the difficult to comprehend Noah’s
Ark and the flood. It contains vital
foundation principles, but wait.
Don’t even try to imagine the birth
of a boy from a virgin girl. The
ancient miracles within “the books”
will not convince you of its divine
source. Miracles must be visibly
witnessed.
The entire world has been given a
visible miracle. Yahshua and almost
all the Hebrew prophets foretold
of the return of the Jews to “their”
land. The political resurrection of
Israel is a miracle. They have strug-
gled with the world for over 70 years
to fulfill this very specific prophecy.
The Scriptures prove themselves
genuine for only a creator could
reestablish the nation of Israel
amongst such international hos-
tility. It is all about the land. Don’t
allow hate to blind the miracle
you’ve been given.
Gary Fischer
The Dalles
COPING WITH COVID
I survived the vaccine so I can survive COVID
Dr. Maile Anslinger, an internal
medicine physician in The Dalles,
has a persuasive message when she
talks to patients about the safety
and effectiveness of the COVID-19
vaccine.
She tells them: “I took this
vaccine, and I did have some side
effects. Even when I didn’t feel well
I was glad, because I knew it was
working. I survived the vaccine so I
can survive COVID. And I want you
to get it too, so you survive.”
The main concerns she hears
from her patients are about side
effects, so she is upfront that they
can be expected, but that they are
short-lived and better than getting
COVID.
She recounts that she was a bit
tired and had a headache after the
first shot. After the second, she felt
achy with a bad headache and a fe-
ver. So she went to bed early and felt
fine the next day. “I acknowledge
there can be side effects, absolutely,
but they will pass.”
Another top concern she hears is
about safety. “People want to know,
is it safe? And they want to know
how I know it’s safe. They’re worried
it has not been completely tested.
And they ask, ‘Isn’t it too soon to
know if this is safe for us?’”
She said, “My response to that is,
this may be a new type of infection,
but vaccines aren’t new. We have
over a hundred years of study to
know how vaccines work in our
bodies. And I try to tell people,
‘Think of a vaccine as like a drill.
We’ve spent many years, especially
the last 50, developing the best pos-
sible drills that we can. When a new
infection comes along, it’s a little
bit like changing out the bit. We
already had the vaccine technolo-
gy, and we know how they interact
with the immune system. It’s like
knowing how to plug in the drill and
knowing how to turn on the drill.
We just need the right bit to make it
fit to the infection.’
“This is based on lots of solid
science. It’s not brand new, it’s just
a new infection.”
She said, “We know a lot about
long-term vaccine safety,” and in
fact, “These are being monitored
more carefully than any other vac-
cine in our history.”
That was how the rare blood
clotting disorder was found with
the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It
was paused for 10 days and then
returned to usage after officials
found the benefits far outweighed
the risks.
The clotting disorder is so rare
Anslinger has only seen it twice in
her 20 years in medicine. Neither
instance was from a vaccine. It’s
very serious, but can be managed,
she said.
For the 15 women who experi-
enced the rare blood clots, “that
was really, really hard, but there are
also 8 million people that didn’t
have any problems and that’s really
important to keep in perspective.”
Many patients wonder why
they should get the vaccine if they
still have to wear masks in many
places. She said, “It’s important to
remember that most vaccines don’t
prevent infections completely in
everyone. The COVID vaccines do a
very good job preventing you from
getting so sick that you have to go
into the hospital, and preventing
you from getting so sick you might
die. However, with so many people
Dr. Maile Anslinger, an internal medicine physician in The Dalles.
still not vaccinated, and able to
spread the infection, it’s best not
to take a chance in indoor spaces
with people who may have the virus
and not realize they are spreading
it. This is especially important for
older people and those with health
problems.”
While there were more fears a
few weeks ago from patients that
the vaccines might not protect well
against variants, she said the ques-
tion has died down as we learned
it wasn’t as much of a problem and
the story faded from the news. She
tells them the vaccine may not be
perfect, but she doesn’t want them
searching for something perfect
Regional news for the Gorge
only to miss out on something
good.
To patients who feel COVID is
“overblown” or “just a bad flu,”
Anslinger said even the flu can be
dangerous and she’s had patients
die from it. She tells patients to get
the flu shot every year because of
that, even though it’s been a long
time since she had a patient die
from flu. The COVID infection is a
lot more dangerous, though, and
she’s had patients very sick from it.
“I’ve had to sign death certificates
for people in this community who
died of COVID and I don’t want
to do that for anyone else, I really
don’t.” She tells patients that maybe
someday, when they’re very old
and it’s their time, she will sign their
death certificate, “but not right now,
not for this, if we can help it — and
we can.”
One patient reluctantly asked
whether the vaccine would affect
her DNA (it won’t) or whether
it might contain a microchip (it
doesn’t). She said it’s tempting to
dismiss those concerns, but she
knows “it’s hard to sort out what we
should be scared of and what we
can disregard.”
She empathizes with how people
are “swayed by very passionate
expressions of fear.” She encour-
ages people to be thoughtful and
ask questions of people who really
know about the vaccine.
For more information, con-
tact North Central Public Health
District at 541-506-2600, or visit
www.ncphd.org or find them on
Facebook.
Article provided by NCPHD.
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