24 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 7, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
Title: Show stopper: Thousands of wrestling fans fi ll
Queens’ Arthur Ashe Stadium for AEW’s fi rst NYC show
Summary: The wrestlers of AEW descended upon the
Big Apple on Sept. 22, for AEW Grand Slam, one of
the biggest and most highly anticipated events to
hit the city following the restrictions of the COVID-19
pandemic, at Queens’ Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Reach: 5,716 (as of 10/04/2021)
Wise up and
wake up
Faced with a sudden smallpox outbreak
in March 1947, New York City quickly
mobilized to prevent a major pandemic
that could have sickened and killed thousands
In roughly six weeks’ time, more than 5
million New Yorkers received the smallpox
vaccine. Th e feared epidemic was
completely blunted; by late April, the outbreak
Compare that to today, where more
than 5.3 million New Yorkers are now
fully vaccinated against COVID-19. But
this vaccination eff ort began in earnest
in mid-January; the vaccine was made
available to all people, 12 and older, in
late May.
Th e city was starkly diff erent back in
1947. Social media did not exist, so misinformation
didn’t spread as rapidly and
widely as it does now. Cable news channels
weren’t around, so loud talking heads
didn’t have a platform by which to indoctrinate
the masses with lies about the vaccine’s
eff ectiveness.
Th e smallpox vaccine wasn’t looked
upon through a political eye. Democrats
and Republicans alike acknowledged the
reality of the situation and rolled up their
sleeves together.
Would such wisdom prevail in our
society today, we could truly beat back
COVID-19. Instead, the virus continues
to spread some 19 months into the health
crisis, and the areas of New York City
where vaccination rates are below average
are now getting hit harder by the virus.
Brooklyn alone has 22 areas where vaccination
more than 1,100 new COVID-19 cases
combined between Sept. 22-28 — and it
doesn’t need to be this way.
THE QUEENS
had been declared over.
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
CO-PUBLISHER
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ART DIRECTOR
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STAFF REPORTERS
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of people.
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CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
rates are under 60% that recorded
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
ZACHARY GEWELB
NIRMAL SINGH
ANGELICA ACEVEDO
JENNA BAGCAL, KATRINA MEDOFF, CARLOTTA MOHAMED,
JULIA MORO, BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
KEITH FIOCCA
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
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Th e vaccine is safe, and works. Yet a
minority of deniers seeks to keep the
majority of New Yorkers in danger of
this disease — and are shamefully getting
assistance they don’t deserve.
Unions have sought legal intervention
to stop city vaccine mandates. Restaurants
have fi led lawsuits seeking to stop mandatory
vaccine checks of customers.
It’s enough to make a rational person
bang their heads against the wall. Aft er
19 months of COVID-19, when will they
learn?
Forgive us for not feeling sorry for New
Yorkers who continue to bury their heads
in the sand and deny, deny, deny. But they
now are the last obstacle standing in the
way of fi nally ending this pandemic, and
moving on with our lives.
It’s time for this stubborn lot to wise up,
wake up and rid themselves of their terminal
infl exibility.
Photo via Getty Images
In 1947, the feared smallpox epidemic was completely blunted, thanks to New Yorkers’ willingness to take a vaccine. Today, more New Yorkers must be
willing to get vaccinated in an eff ort to put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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