LETTERS

Letter: COVID-19 has killed more Americans than Influenza of 1918 because of ignorance

Telegram & Gazette

My sister had a brutal case of Covid last winter. The experience converted her from a Trump supporter. With my sister's encouragement, my wife and I were vaccinated in February, but I never really pushed others to get vaccinated or to wear masks. I had to fly to Memphis for a family funeral. I wore an N-95 mask and a face shield, but one out of eight passengers were wearing masks below their noses on the plane and some weren't wearing one at all in the terminal. I contracted a break-through Covid infection and am in lousy shape, but because I'm vaccinated, I'm not likely to be hospitalized. When I recover, I hope I have the courage to tell every non-mask wearer, improper mask-wearer, and anti-vaxer that they put others at risk,

My grandmother survived the 1918 Influenza epidemic. There was no vaccine. There are  highly effective vaccines for Covid, but it has killed more Americans than the Influenza of 1918 because of misinformation, ignorance, and selfishness. We must do better.

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy

Worcester