Who is popular today?

THE EDITOR: I would like to remind our leaders that the Constitution of this once great country states "we the people," not “I the people.” Where did this lunacy and selfishness start and how will it end? I would like to remind the unvaccinated and anti-mask mandate citizens that it's not about you.
As a practising family physician for over 30 years, I spend a great amount of time educating my patients on a multitude of disease states such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease – and also cigarette smoking. Fortunately, covid19 is the first pandemic I have dealt with in my tenure.
Like most of my colleagues, especially the ones working in the ICUs, my compassion for the unvaccinated has dissipated. How can we have any emotional ties to those who don't care about our family and friends and our society? By no means am I saying that these people won't get the care they need. Unlike them, we are not selfish and we have an obligation to take care of the sick. Not a day goes by when we don't hear the words, "I should have listened.” Vaccines and masks work and are our only path out of this nightmare.
Let's educate again. Masks of any type can help trap the fluid droplets that exit your mouths when you speak, cough, or sneeze. Even cloth masks can stop nearly all of these droplets. When these droplets leave our mouths the water in them evaporates quickly. These droplets shrink and become airborne. These aerosols can float in our air ranging from a few minutes to multiple hours.
While it is true that only N95 and K95 masks completely protect those wearing them from these aerosols, cloth and surgical masks do provide some degree of protection. Masks work, end of story.
Doctors Aaron Glatt, Bruce Farber, Marcia Epstein, Leonard Krilov and Sharon Nachman are some of the brightest infectious disease specialists on Long Island in the US. They have consistently reiterated their recommendations concerning the need for vaccinations and masking in order to overcome this pandemic and prevent further loss of life.
One of the basic premises in epidemiology is risk reduction, not absolute prevention. Just as we are forbidden to smoke in public places and must get vaccinated before kindergarten and college is exactly why we must wear masks. It protects those around us.
Michael Crichton was one of the brightest and most prolific physicians and science fiction writers of our times. He said, "Presidents and generals and all the important people in position to make the most important decisions are, by and large, the least equipped for making them.”
Our elected officials have an obligation to the majority. They have an obligation to do what's medically correct for public health, to save lives, and to ease the burden on the medical community so that non-covid19-related patients can get the care they deserve.
Let's put politics aside and do what's right for once. If you don't want a vaccine or to wear a mask then that is your own personal decision, so stay home and keep away from those who are trying to do the right thing. You do not have the right to infect others when the consequences are so severe.
I can’t imagine what our country would look like if our parents and grandparents acted so selfishly during the polio epidemic. When the selfish and misinformed get on board then maybe, just maybe, we can start turning a corner on this pandemic.

DR NEIL SOSKEL

NeilSoskel@gmail.com
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