4A | DECEMBER 30, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
1498 E. Main St., STE 104
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
damien Sherwood, editor | 541-942-3325 | dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
Opinion
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Political/Election Letters:
LETTERS
Vaccine Disinformation
This is in response to the
Letter to the Editor titled “Dis-
information Landscape” in the
Dec. 23 edition of The Sentinel.
I was disappointed in Ms.
Zee’s idea of worthy informa-
tion.
While she claims to trust sci-
ence, she betrays a lack of un-
derstanding about verifiable
information. For example, she
draws conclusions about vac-
cine safety from the VAERS
website even though the site it-
self explains that what they are
presenting is raw, unconfirmed
data. That would be like using
police hotline tips to convict
people of crime without bother-
ing to investigate first.
The increase in death after
vaccination that she noticed is
likely explained by the fact that
before COVID, most vaccines
were being administered to chil-
dren under 6. The first COVID
vaccines were administered to
the elderly and medically vul-
nerable populations first, so of
course we would see more death
after vaccination, but not neces-
sarily from vaccination.
Ms. Zee then offers us odd
little uncited stories. One says
the CDC director made some
statement about false positives,
but I couldn’t verify it. Anoth-
er claims hospitals are killing
people, “local groups” are prac-
ticing medicine, healthy young
people are entering the hospital
to get Remdesivir, and people
are filing lawsuits. I’m not sure
what any of that has to do with
vaccine safety.
I totally agree with her about
greed-driven businesses, how-
ever that does not mean their
product is unsafe. Generally,
businesses are not interested in
killing their customers.
I am sympathetic to folks
who have family members who
reacted badly to vaccination
or who have other underlying
medical conditions. Still — and
it is unfair, but not an atrocity
— these folks need to be highly
mindful of others, both for their
own safety and ours. I may be
completely vaccinated, but I can
still get Omicron and infect you.
We have 4 percent of the
world’s population and almost
20 percent of all COVID deaths.
This is not the stuff of heroes.
This is a time to learn, to adapt,
to be patient and be strong in
the face of adversity.
It’s time to get vaccinated,
wear a mask and socially dis-
tance. We have been through
worse. We can do this.
—S.H.
Cottage Grove
Setting the Record
Straight on Vaccines
There is a lot to unpack from
Joanna Zee’s response (in the
Dec. 23 edition of The Sentinel)
to S.H. on misinformation sur-
rounding the COVID vaccines.
She states that after just a “cur-
sory” look at the VAERS website
she was able to determine that
the “death rate and cases of se-
vere side effects far exceed the
cumulative number of all vac-
cines in the last 20 years.”
That is an incredible conclu-
sion to jump to from a “curso-
ry” look. VAERS is a database
that anyone can report to, that
draws no conclusions about the
information reported. (It also
includes all vaccines not just
COVID.) The CDC reviews all
of the reports. Many reports
are useful, but some reports are
nonsense.
To prove the point, one anes-
thesiologist submitted a VAERS
report years ago that the flu
vaccine had turned him into
The Incredible Hulk. Anoth-
er report of a 2-year-old dying
from a COVID-19 vaccine was
removed from VAERS because
the CDC researched the claim
and concluded it was fabricated
— two-year-olds are not given
COVID vaccines.
I worked in biotech for 17
years. I handled viruses and
human tissues. I ran bioassays
and generated a lot of data. To
interpret and investigate that
data takes special training and
I would not begin to claim that
I can look at the VAERS web-
site and come to any real con-
clusions about the safety of the
vaccines.
The idea that children are
dying from the COVID vac-
cine is patently false. This idea
has been spread through social
media due to something a for-
mer VP from Pfizer, Michael
Yeadon, said in a June 2021 in-
terview with Steve Bannon. The
vaccines were not being given to
anyone in the general public un-
der 18 at that time and none of
the children in the clinical trials
died from a vaccine.
According to the CDC, there
are no confirmed deaths in chil-
dren from vaccines. Over 700
children have died due to the
disease. Two hundred of those
were under 4 years of age.
The organ failure example cit-
ed as being due to Remdesivir
has been spread by a chiroprac-
tor on social media. Lung and
kidney failure are also a result of
severe COVID, so the relation-
ship to Remdesivir has not been
concluded by any reputable re-
search that I could find.
Which peer reviewed scientif-
ic studies was she referring to?
I’d like to see them. And why
would a healthy young person
enter a hospital just to be giv-
en Remdesivir? Did she mean
a young healthy person with
COVID?
So, in conclusion, I did not
find that Ms. Zee’s claims about
the side effects and deaths from
vaccinations were conclusive
or well-researched. Her reports
are fueled by rumor and fear. I
suspect that S.H. wanted cita-
tions of actual original papers,
research and websites, not just a
vague reference to whistle blow-
ers and undercover videos.
I do agree that insurance and
pharmaceutical companies do
not always have our best inter-
ests at heart and that the bottom
line is what motivates them.
That is often also true of law-
yers, so pending lawsuits don’t
mean their cause is just.
Treating
a
hospitalized
COVID patient is far more ex-
pensive than vaccination and
prevention. The vast majority of
physicians do recommend the
COVID vaccines. Do you think
that they don’t have your best
interests at heart?
—Patricia N
Cottage Grove
Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely
issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must: 1) Not be a part of letter-writing campaigns
on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information
about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand
knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support
candidates based on personal experience and perspective
rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor
column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes;
this constitutes paid political advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper,
at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and
editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow
the above criteria.
Send letters to:
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Sen. Ron Wyden
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
• Heather Buch
Lane County Commissioner
- District 5
Email: Heather.Buch@lane
countyorg.gov
125 E. Eighth Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401
Or call 541-682-4203
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
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