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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2021)
A4 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher Founded in 1873 DERRICK DePLEDGE Editor SHANNON ARLINT Circulation Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager WRITER’S NOTEBOOK My vaccination diary S EASIDE — Clatsop County has administered more than 17,350 vaccine doses against the coronavirus. I was one of them. “There’s been so much emphasis put on the importance of the vaccine, that the journey of get- ting through the process, getting through the line and fi nally receiving the ‘sacrament’ was almost a quasi-religious expe- rience,” my wife, Eve, said afterward. “It had a R.J. sense of ceremony.” MARX It seemed like a long road. Covering COVID- 19 for the newspaper is almost all-con- suming. Every story has a consequence from the impacts of the virus: physical, social, personal. Families, businesses, schools, the way we live, the way we think and vote has been linked to the virus in some way. Every death as a result of the corona- virus seems incongruously both random, yet especially close. Being in classifi cation 1B — over 65 with no preexisting conditions — I was eligible for the vaccine in late January . We registered online and checked pharmacy websites. We Googled, surfed, studied, registered, fi led, clicked and phoned. Did you have to be a Costco member to get one at Costco? Could you get one in Washington state if you live in Oregon? Eligibility was one thing — getting an appointment another. Yet judging from the selfi es on social media, everybody but us was getting it. What was the secret code? Were they really all eligible, or were they jumping the line? I was almost ashamed for such thoughts. Anyone who wants the vac- cine should be allowed to freely get it. No guilt. No shame. In mid-March, we still hadn’t got- ten an appointment, more than six weeks after eligibility. We had worked our thumbs down clicking refresh on pharmacy webpages. Though it hadn’t worked in the past, Eve took a friend’s advice and called R.J. Marx/The Astorian ABOVE: People waited in line to receive the vaccine against the coronavirus last week in Seaside. RIGHT: Clatsop County is moving through the priority list for vaccination against the coronavirus. the county P ublic H ealth D epartment. To her amazement, they scheduled us the next week at the old Seaside High School. It was almost too easy. We entered the high school. Volunteers greeted us like they were hosts at Wyndham. Some of the vol- unteers even wore badges labeled “c oncierge.” The single-fi le line down the high school hallway was daunting but moved so quickly that we got to the front in less than 15 minutes. Though we would have preferred the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we happily submitted to the Moderna, administered by an extremely compe- tent volunteer. After taking the shot — it Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian didn’t hurt — we got our little vaccine cards. Sorry, no selfi e. After the shot, we sat in chairs socially distanced from each other in the former high school gym. No wonder lots of baby boomers say they are reminded of getting the polio vaccine in schools in the 1950s and ‘ 60s. We were two of 600 jabs that day at the high school, a volunteer mentioned. More than 5,200 c ounty res- idents are fully vaccinated, a step toward the county’s goal to reach herd immu- nity against the virus by vaccinating 27,533 people. This week, the county’s vaccine task force plans to give 1,400 fi rst doses and 1,170 second doses at four events . And that seems like a good thing. R.J. Marx is editor of the Seaside Sig- nal and covers South County for The Astorian. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR What chance do we have? O h, how similar is today’s international scene to that of the 1930s and 1940s. Here we have four nations, China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, joining in an axis of evil to take the place of Western Europe and the U.S. in power and infl uence over the rest of the world. And, as it was then, so now we also have those who refuse to believe that it could happen again. In England, just prior to World War II, one man, Winston Churchill, rang out the clarion call of warning as to what might happen if their island nation fell, and the rest of Europe with it, but the man in charge at the time, Neville Chamberlain, thought talking was the answer. Now what is happening before our very eyes is another attempt by the man in charge to appease and show our enemies that he is a “nice guy,” rather than stand up to them, and get ready for the showdown that is inevitably coming. A disaster is headed our way, and lead- ership is sorely lacking. More than that, it is almost a joke. Where an old man in charge who has his wits about him is an asset, especially if he is a good negotiator, a stumbling, bum- bling, incoherent old man in the White House is incapable of dealing with these ruthless thugs. Heaven help us. CARL T. YATES Warrenton Show up hen I was 14, I got my fi rst part- time job. I didn’t know a lot, but I knew I’d better show up for work, or I’d be fi red. Some Oregon lawmakers don’t seem to understand this basic principle. When they took their oath of offi ce, they swore to uphold the constitution on our behalf. Their fi rst duty is to show up for work. I’m not the only one who feels this way. Polling shows the vast majority of Repub- licans, Democrats and Independent Ore- gonians want consequences for lawmakers who fail to show up to work. I’m glad there are common-sense bills on the table to address this problem. If lawmakers don’t show up to work, they shouldn’t get paid. They should be fi ned, and if they have 10 unexcused absences in a legislative session, they should not be W able to run for reelection. If a 14-year-old can understand this, our lawmakers should, too. Oregonians want a functioning representative democracy. There is already too much extremism in our country. Let’s get back to basics. Law- makers need to show up, do their job and work with the other side. DEBRA FERENCY Warrenton Prepare for wildfi res s your home defendable from fi re? Would your roof withstand a shower of burning embers? Does the landscaping in your yard resist fi re? Could emergency vehicles get close to your residence? Do you have an escape route? Wildfi res are as much a part of the I landscape in the West as blizzards and tor- nadoes are in the Midwest. Wildfi re sea- sons are increasing in length and intensity. Increasing population growth continues to push into the interface between natu- ral areas and residential and commercial areas. Creating defensible space around resi- dences, businesses and community assets will save lives, structures and also assist our courageous fi refi ghters. In mega- fi res, resources may be stretched beyond capacity. It is not possible to be everywhere at once, despite the amazing working net- work of state and federal agencies, local fi re districts, local businesses and volun- teers who fi ght fi res. Our land use laws, written 50 years ago, need to be updated, as do our build- ing codes. Defensible space should be added to the list of needs of our regional infrastructure. Communities must continue work- ing with their fi re professionals and emer- gency management departments to hold trainings and practices in fi re preven- tion and preparation. All of this requires dedication of funding in governmental budgets. In terms of creating defensible space, there are great resources already online. Start with these websites: Oregon State Extension Service, the National Fire Protection Association and the Oregon Department of Forestry. Talk with your family, your neighbors, your community leaders. Let’s be proac- tive to improve outcomes of the next fi re season. KATHLEEN SULLIVAN Astoria