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