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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2020)
OPINION READER’S FORUM Founded in 1906 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2020 A4 EDITOR’S DESK It’s an important year to get a fl u shot hile the Hermiston Her- ald does not write endorsements for political candidates each election, I will offer up an endorsement of what doctors and public health offi cials around the world are begging people to do this year: Please get a fl u shot. Jade While we don’t have McDowell a vaccine for COVID- NEWS EDITOR 19 yet, we can reduce the number of people who sickened by some strains of infl uenza, help- ing reserve hospital beds and other medical resources for coronavirus outbreaks. I will admit, I used to be a fl u vac- cine skeptic. Most vaccines seem like a no-brainer. Before the polio vac- cine, thousands of children in the United States paralyzed or killed by the poliomyelitis virus each year. Now none are. Before the smallpox vaccine, millions of people world- wide died of the variola virus each year. Now none do. It doesn’t take an epidemiology degree to fi gure out everyone should be getting one of those. But for me, the fl u shot always seemed different. For one, while other vaccines were a distant child- hood memory, the fl u vaccine required me to make the decision each year to voluntarily get stabbed with a needle again. And then, since the fl u shot is not 100% effective, W Hermiston Herald, File Greg Bonner, left, receives a fl u shot from Blue Mountain Community College nursing student Dariann Scott during a drive-through vaccination clinic in 2019. Doctors are saying this year is a particularly important year to get a fl u vaccine. there was the chance that I could get stabbed and still get sick. Also, people I knew told convinc- ing tales, swearing that they never got the fl u shot and then the one year they did, they immediately got sick, so obviously it was the fl u shot that made them sick. This made for a rather impressive argument when I didn’t think about it too closely (which was all too con- venient to do since I really don’t like needles). What changed my mind was fi nally reading up on the fl u vac- cine from reliable scientifi c sources. It brought me new information that I hadn’t considered before. I learned, for example, that while the fl u shot isn’t a 100% guarantee you won’t get sick, several studies have shown that people who get the fl u after getting the vaccine generally have less severe symptoms compared to those who didn’t get the shot. I also learned that it takes about two weeks for your body to develop immunity after you get the fl u vac- cine. One explanation I read sug- gested this is the main reason for many of the “fl u shot made me sick” stories. For a skeptic who usually skips the vaccine, often what prompts them to try one is a particularly bad out- break of infl uenza among their fam- ——— CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES ——— COLUMN Clock’s alarm rings anew or the better part of the past six months, I haven’t even set an alarm clock. That all changed last month, as I was asked to fi ll in for a couple of weeks while one of my former colleagues was on vacation. It couldn’t have come at a bet- ter time. Since the world turned into the ‘rona roller coaster, I’ve mostly maintained a positive atti- tude. However, with all the smoke we had from wildfi res and my osteoarthritis fl aring up because of changes in barometric pressure, I Tammy Malgesini was a hot mess for a bit. During an 11-day period, I only left the house twice — for a Walmart pickup order and to get takeout from Lawan’s Thai Garden. No walking the dog, no splashing in my little pool and no lounging on the back porch. In fact, I was fi rmly planted on my daybed so long that the memory foam topper seemed to forget its natural state. I was giddy as a schoolgirl as I laid out my clothes the night before I was sched- uled to return to the newsroom. I even asked my husband to make sure I got up in case I somehow slept through the multiple alarms I set. Other than a frustrating fi rst hour because of a computer glitch, it was great to be back in the newsroom. While my primary focus was making sure obituaries, death notices and community news were entered into the system, it was good to be at work. I’ve missed the chatter of the scanner and perus- F ing information from press releases shortly after they are sent. I was extremely grateful for a massage appointment that was scheduled several days after I returned to work. For the past six months, I’ve alternated between sitting on my overstuffed recliner, the memory foam topper on my daybed, my zero-gravity out- door lounger and my fl oating pool chair. Sitting in front of a computer for 5-6 hours at a stretch was quite an adjustment. Returning to work for a couple of weeks also offered me a chance to evaluate my future in the workforce. While I’ve been unemployed a couple of prior times over the course of my adult life, this time has been different. In the past, I looked forward to return- ing to work full time. While I’m not ready to retire, I’m not altogether sure that I want to resume working 40 hours a week. And I believe the General, my 8-year-old German shepherd, would prefer that I wasn’t gone as much. He has gotten quite used to hanging out on the daybed, chilling outside and going for more rides together. He was quite exuberant when I returned each evening and was a bit more clingy than usual — and I think he detests the annoying sound of the alarm clock as much as I do. --- Tammy Malgesini, the former Hermis- ton Herald community editor, enjoys spend- ing time with her husband and two German shepherds, as well as entertaining herself with random musings. U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 whitehouse.gov/contact/ U.S. REPRESENTATIVE GREG WALDEN 185 Rayburn House Offi ce Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6730 La Grande offi ce: 541-624- 2400 ——— STATE REP. GREG SMITH, DISTRICT 57 900 Court St. NE, H-482 Salem, OR 97301 Printed on recycled newsprint VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 40 Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673 Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536 Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531 Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538 The Hermiston Herald (USPS 242220, ISSN 8750-4782) is published weekly at Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838, (541) 567-6457. Periodical postage paid at Hermiston, OR. Postmaster, send address changes to Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838. Member of EO Media Group Copyright ©2020 U.S. SENATORS RON WYDEN JEFF MERKLEY 221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 La Grande offi ce: 541-962- 7691 313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 Pendleton offi ce: 541-278- 1129 503-986-1457 Email: Rep.GregSmith@ state.or.us ——— 160 State Capitol 900 Court Street Salem, OR 97301-4047 503-378-4582 Email: www.oregon.gov/ gov/Pages/ share-your-opinion.aspx ——— STATE SEN. BILL HANSELL, DISTRICT 29 900 Court St. NE, S-423 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Email: Sen.BillHansell@ state.or.us ——— GOV. KATE BROWN MAYOR DAVID DROTZMANN 180 NE Second St. Hermiston, OR 97838 ddrotzmann@hermiston. or.us SPEAK UP Seeking guest viewpoints Are you a parent who has been managing your children’s distance learning while working from home, struggling to fi nd child care or had to quit your job during the pandemic? The Hermiston Herald wants to hear from you about your experience this year. Submit a 250-word letter to the editor or a guest column of 400 to 650 words about your experience, along with your name, city of residence and phone number (phone number is for verifi cation purposes and will not be published) and you may be published on the opinion page of an upcoming edition of the Hermiston Herald. Letters and columns can be sent to editor@hermistonherald.com or submitted via the letters form at www.hermistonherald.com. CORRECTIONS To contact the Hermiston Herald for news, advertising or subscription information: • call 541-567-6457 • e-mail info@hermistonherald.com • stop by our offi ces at 333 E. Main St. • visit us online at: hermistonherald.com ily, friends or coworkers. It seems everyone is out sick from work and all their friends are posting on Face- book about their awful symptoms, and so the skeptic decides maybe they should try out a fl u shot after all. The problem is, with such an out- break, the chances are good that by the time things get bad enough for the skeptic to go in for a shot, it’s too late. The virus is either already incu- bating inside them or they will be exposed in the next few days before their body has built up an immunity. Thus, when they start running a fever two days later, it only feels like the fl u shot made them sick — a the- ory they are all too eager to embrace without a second thought, because it confi rms the biases they already had against the vaccine. I don’t have space in this column to debunk all the myths and miscon- ceptions about vaccines, or explain why various charts are misleading. What I do have room for is this: There are people you know who have health conditions that mean they can- not get vaccines, or make them espe- cially vulnerable to complications from the fl u. Half of all adults hospi- talized with the fl u have a heart con- dition, for example. Those people are counting on you to help protect them. One way to do that is get vaccinated. The rest, you’ve heard a million times this year — stay six feet apart, wear a mask and wash your hands. It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as soon as they are discovered. Incorrect information will be corrected on Page 2A. Errors commited on the Opinion page will be corrected on that page. Corrections also are noted in the online versions of our stories. Please contact the editor at editor@hermistonherald.com or call (541) 564-4533 with issues about this policy or to report errors. SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR Letters Policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for the Hermiston Herald readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer letters should be kept to 250 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. The Hermiston Herald reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and signed by the writer or writers. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. Only the letter writer’s name and city of residence will be published. OBITUARY POLICY The Hermiston Herald publishes paid obituaries. The obituary can include small photos and, for veterans, a fl ag symbol at no charge. Expanded death notices will be published at no charge. These include information about services. Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper punctuation and style. Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at hermistonherald.com/obituaryform, by email to obits@ hermistonherald.com, by fax to 541-276-8314, placed via the funeral home or in person at the Hermiston Herald or East Oregonian offi ces. For more information, call 541-966-0818 or 1-800-522-0255, x221.
