EDITORIAL
AVOIDING THE WORST
HOW TO REACH US
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.12 COM | AUG. 13 - AUG. 19, 2021
ONE REASON TO
GET VACCINATED
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As the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread across the city, make sure to get vaccinated.
Photo via Getty Images
The delta variant of COVID-19 continues to
spread across the city, driving infection rates
higher across the five boroughs.
But unlike the situation in New York at the
height of the pandemic, life goes on. Businesses
are still open. People are out and about enjoying
the city as they did before COVID-19 arrived
on our doorstep. They’re gathering at ballparks,
outdoor concerts and restaurants, taking part in
all the normal activities of city living that were
off-limits when the virus first raged on.
It’s not because New Yorkers have adopted a
devil-may-care attitude and are throwing caution
to the wind. You still see plenty of people
wearing masks and frequently rubbing their
hands with sanitizer while out in public.
All of this is possible because of the COVID-19
vaccine — and, more importantly, what the vaccine
does for the city’s hospitalization rates.
Delta is spreading in New York City just as
it is in other parts of the country like Missouri
and Louisiana. But the situation isn’t nearly
as grim as it is in the south, where vaccination
rates are low and hospital rooms are teeming
with gravely ill patients.
City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi
has said that the vast majority of New Yorkers
being hospitalized today for COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
Imagine how packed the city’s hospitals
would be right now if no vaccine existed.
Undoubtedly, it would rival the horrific period
of March-April 2020, when every hospital in
the city had refrigerated trailers parked outside
to store the bodies of the COVID dead because
their own morgues were over capacity.
The COVID-19 vaccine will help you either
avoid infection completely, or reduce the infection
to just mild symptoms. It is overwhelmingly
safe; more than 180 million people nationwide
have already received the shots and are living
their lives.
And getting the shot not only allows life to go
on across the city, but it also keeps the hospitals
in manageable condition. It allows health care
workers to focus their care on a relatively small
number of COVID-19 patients while handling all
the other medical emergencies they face, without
being overwhelmed or put at risk of infection
and death themselves.
No matter what vaccine incentives the government
dreams up, there is no greater incentive
to get vaccinated than to ensure our ability
to end this pandemic, and avoid the worst case
scenario.
There is one indisputable argument for getting vaccinated or wearing a mask during the COVID
pandemic, and that is both will cost you far less than what you will pay in medical bills if you are
hospitalized.
Medical bills are the greatest cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., and, unfortunately, many of our
fellow citizens are facing that burdensome prospect by failing to protect themselves.
Glenn Hayes,
Kew Gardens
/www.qns.com
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