APRIL 30, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A13
The devasting impact of
global mask mandates
By ADRIANA COHEN
Now that the Biden administration has
achieved the impressive milestone of 200
million Americans getting vaccinated in
his first 100 days in office, it's time to lift all
remaining mask mandates.
If you'll recall, at the outset of the pan-
demic, we were told by Dr. Anthony Fauci
that we needed just 15 days to "flatten the
curve" and to protect frontline health care
workers from getting the coronavirus.
We were told the goal was to protect the
most vulnerable citizens from getting the
virus. Now, over a year later, we've not only
achieved that primary objective, but we've
surpassed it in spades—with as many as
3 million Americans getting vaccinated
daily.
So, why hasn't the Biden administration
lifted the face mask mandate given the fact
that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are
95% effective and over 80% of Americans
65 and older have already gotten the shot?
Reinfection is very rare for both those
who've been vaccinated and those who
have natural immunity from already hav-
ing COVID-19 and developing antibodies
to it. According to a study published in The
Lancet in April, "previous infection with
SARS-CoV-2 induces effective immunity
to future infections in most individuals."
The study was based on the evaluation
of 25,661 hospital workers throughout
England from June 18, 2020, to Dec. 31,
2020. It found that those with "a previous
history of SARS-CoV-2 infection was asso-
ciated with an 84% lower risk of infection."
The Centers for Disease Control web-
site states, "Vaccine breakthrough cases
occur in only a small percentage of vac-
cinated persons. To date, no unexpected
patterns have been identified in the case
demographics or vaccine characteris-
tics among people with reported vaccine
breakthrough infections."
But that's not all. The CDC also reports
that, as of April 13, 2021, more than 75
million Americans had been fully vacci-
nated against COVID-19 since December
14, 2020 yet during that time the CDC
received only 5,814 reports of vaccine
breakthrough infections. That's just 0.08%.
So again, why are citizens still being forced
to cover their faces in public?
And who are we protecting exactly
when the most vulnerable among us are
already protected?
Perhaps a White House reporter can
Letters
Support these candidates
for SK school board
To the Editor:
This year’s Salem-Keizer School Board
elections take on added importance in
the midst of ongoing pandemic condi-
tions that have so affected all schools
and families with school children. There
are four great candidates running for the
four open seats and they have pledged to
ask Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki that
question while she conducts her daily tele-
vised press briefings unmasked. I'm quite
certain there are many Americans who
want to know why high-ranking officials
in the Biden administration are allowed on
federal property without masks but not tax-
payers who fund their salaries.
That said, masks aren't just an inconve-
nience for those of us who want to breathe
freely or those who desperately miss see-
ing our friends, neighbors and fellow
humans smiling faces, which have been
hidden from view for over a year. Studies
have shown that masks are wreaking havoc
on the environment.
Last December, OceansAsia, a Hong
Kong-based marine conservation organi-
zation, estimated that 1.56 billion masks
entered oceans in 2020, causing an addi-
tional 4,680 to 6,240 metric tons of marine
plastic pollution being dumped into the
oceans, contaminating waterways, choking
marine life and other devastating effects
to ecosystems. With mask mandates still
in effect in many states throughout the
U.S. and around the world, the profound
harm to marine life and the environment
continues.
The inconvenient truth is disposable
masks are made of plastics that break down
into microplastics that end up poisoning
fish that humans then eat. "It is noted that
face masks are easily ingested by higher
organisms, such as fishes, and microorgan-
isms in the aquatic life which will affect
the food chain and finally chronic health
problems to humans," says the National
Institute of Health. "As a result, microplas-
tics from the face mask should be a focus
worldwide."
Perhaps Fauci, who leads the NIH,
should be reading his own website before
recommending Americans wear two
masks, not one.
"Not only are plastics polluting our
oceans and waterways and killing marine
life -- it's in all of us and we can't escape con-
suming plastics," said Marco Lambertini of
the World Wildlife Fund.
Bottom line: Masks are harming
the environment. Why no outcry from
Democrats pushing the Green New Deal?
Do they only care about plastic straws
entering the ocean and plastic water bot-
tles—not billions of masks?
With Earth Day upon us, say it ain't so.
(Creators Syndicate)
bring accountability and responsiveness
to the Board.
Ashley Carson Cottingham, Osvaldo
Avila, Maria Hinojos Pressey and Karina
Guzman Ortiz are all highly qualified.
They see not only listening to citizens as
critical but really hearing what citizens’
concerns are in order to craft policies
to bring about the best outcomes for all
students. The school board needs to be
open to all voices in order to create an
environment most conducive to those
positive outcomes.
Vote for positive change come May
18. Vote for Ashley, Osvaldo, Karina and
Maria.
Carolyn Homan
Keizer
PUBLIC SQUARE welcomes all points of view. Published submissions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Keizertimes
A world class educator
McNary High School principal Erik
Jespersen was named the 2021 Oregon
high school principal of the year by the
Coalition of Oregon School Association
of Secondary School Administrators
and the Coalition of Oregon School
Administrators at a ceremony on Friday,
April 23.
For McNary students, parents, teach-
ers, administrators and community
leaders, the recognition for Jespersen
is a no-brainer. The Keizer community
has known for years that he is a special
prinicpal who has endeavored to make
McNary a world class school.
In a year of disrupted in-class instruc-
tion due to COVID-19, Jespersen
assured that all students had access to
their education.
By most metrics, Jespersen 's primary
achievement is an increasing gradu-
ation rate. In six years McNary saw
rates climb from 82% to 91%. The Keizer
community can be proud of the culture
Jespersen has created at McNary. His
"1-1-1 Initiative" is key to keeping stu-
dents engaged. The initiative encour-
ages all students to participate in at last
one club, one sport and one activity each
year. That gives our kids added incen-
tive to attend and stay in school.
Surprised by the ceremony, the hum-
ble Jespersen was lauded by school
and community leaders from school
superintendent Christy Perry to Keizer
Editorial
Mayor Cathy Clark and Marion County
Commission Danielle Bethell.
Erik Jespersen should be held up as
a paragon for educators and principals
everywhere to emulate. His achieve-
ments at McNary are applauded near
and far. His agenda is the success of his
students and he succeeds because of
what he knows but also because of who
he is. He is towering figure, both literally
and figuratively.
Jespersen is a world class principal
and Keizer calls him its own.
— LAZ
The purpose of Public Square
The Keizertimes has had an editorial
and opinion page since its founding in
1979. The page is forum for the paper
to express its point of view on issues
important to the citizens of Keizer.
The Public Square page is available
for the community to submit guest col-
umns and letters expressing their opin-
ions as well.
Does the Keizertimes get it right all
the time? We certainly strive for that, to
be a vehicle for discourse. To that end
we don't censure comments unless they
are slanderous or libelous. Free speech
is a right for everyone; rarely will a
submitted opinion be met with univer-
sal approval—that's the beauty of our
democracy.
We have been criticized for some of
the editorial cartoons we have run. We
have been called out for allowing some
opinions to run. The Keizertimes is a
community newspaper—we report the
news of the city, good, bad or indifferent.
It is not just the hard news of the
community this paper reports but also
the good stories about the people who
serve their fellow residents and those
who achieve success in their personal
endeavors.
At a time when everything seems
to up for debate, conversations can
turn ugly pretty fast. The Keizertimes
works against that ugliness—we report
news but also provide a forum for the
community.
If at times our content makes peo-
ple upset, we are sorry. Our mission
remains the same: covering the news of
the seven square miles of Keizer while
offering space for members of the com-
munity to say what's on their mind.
— LAZ
K EIZER times
PUBLISHER
& EDITOR
Lyndon Zaitz
publisher@keizertimes.com
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