vaccination

An Open Letter To The Unvaccinated

by RDavis | Health

If you are choosing to not get the COVID vaccine then you need to accept complete responsibility for your behavior. That means acknowledging the fact that you may be responsible for the suffering and death of others. It means that you should make an effort to keep away from other people while you wear a mask. But your selfish behavior has made it clear you will not make the effort to protect others.

American society is putting a lot of effort and money into trying to convince the unvaccinated to get the shot, but those efforts are resulting in less than adequate outcomes. The time has come to give up on the unvaccinated and start punishing them for putting the rest of us in danger.

Why Don’t We See More Masks?

by RDavis | Health

Engaging in usual forms of commerce makes one believe that the pandemic is a thing of the past. I find it extremely frightening that more people are not wearing masks in public because the science does tell us that not enough people have been vaccinated to provide the kind of herd immunity that we might need to protect all of us.

Fifty four percent of the U.S. population has received a first dose of vaccine and 47% have received a second dose. That means that as you go about your daily business about half of the people you see should be wearing masks. Of course, the vaccination numbers vary by state. Vermont has a vaccination rate of 82% for a first dose and 75% for a second dose. Massachusetts is at 70% for a first dose and 61% for a second dose.

Even with those numbers we still should see a quarter to a half of the people we engage with on a daily basis wearing masks. It is just not happening. Most places, as well as the CDC, have lifted mask restrictions for vaccinated people and have let the unvaccinated rely on their conscience to do the right thing.
Guess what? It ain’t working. The daily numbers of new COVID cases and deaths are declining but more than 600,000 Americans have died from the disease and it has become clear that most of the recent deaths are in people who have not been vaccinated.

Mass Vaccination In A Broken Public Health System

by RDavis | Health

This country has underfunded public health for decades. We are seeing the results of that malpractice as we try to test and vaccinate a significant number of our population during the COVID 19 pandemic.

It would be simplistic to blame the departed presidential criminal and his team for their lack of action during the pandemic. Yet, they do deserve a good share of blame for not creating a national plan to deal with COVID.

In order to understand why the Biden administration will not find a way to test and vaccinate a critical mass of Americans within a short time frame it is important to know that this country barely has a functioning public health system.

Brattleboro 75 and Up – Get Your Vaccinations

by cgrotke | Health

Vermont’s vaccination enrollment program is open for people 75 and older. It is a statewide, centralized registry system. No need to call your hospital or doctor’s office. 

They would prefer you to register online, but there is a phone number: 855-722-7878

Hours for the phone center are: Monday-Friday, 8:15 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

A few things to know: