Appeal to the unvaccinated
Twenty-years ago, 2,997 people were killed on 9/11. Countless others suffered enduring health problems. Our nation was united in its determination to not allow that kind of tragedy to happen again, spending hundreds of billions of dollars on homeland security and foreign wars.
Today, we are facing an even greater threat. With over 1,000 Americans (almost exclusively unvaccinated) dying each day from COVID, the 9/11 death count is being exceeded every three days. Many others suffer “long-haul” symptoms.
Unfortunately, this time, our nation is not united in the effort to stamp out this disease. While it is your personal right not to be vaccinated, it is also your kuleana not to harm others, including vulnerable kupuna, unvaccinated keiki, and other unvaccinated people. While each of us has the right to get drunk, it is our kuleana not to endanger others by getting into a car and driving. If you are unvaccinated, please be pono about it. Mask, socially distance, and, preferably, quarantine. Only after we stamp out this disease (as we were able to stamp out smallpox, polio, rubella, etc.) will we be able to return to the life we once knew.
Don Fujimoto
Waikoloa
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Stop dividing our island community
Aloha Mayor Roth: Your proposed measure that was covered by WHT is the most divisive and authoritarian action I’ve ever heard.
To compare those who follow the legal quarantine to those arrested for crimes is appalling. Roth compared the hypothetical list to the Tribune-Herald’s daily police arrest reports, saying that his list would perform a similar public service.
Please, please stop dividing our island community. This is not the job you were elected to do. This would cause irreparable harm. Rise above this. Respect every individual’s right to privacy including medical privacy. I’ve observed the written and verbal fury of some of the vaccinated who are “mob ready” and this type of action would only further ignite them.
It’s time for our island to start healing from the damage inflicted by many of the measures enacted in this never-ending emergency. Of course, people may attack you no matter what you do, but start thinking again about the liberties that this country was founded upon. History respects those that stand for freedom.
Dan Lanterman
Kona
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