Why are the anti-vaccination people exposing themselves and others to COVID?

By Letter to the Editor on May 12, 2021.

Editor: “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.” (Buddha) But the way that we die is a bit of a problem. A slow, painful, gasping death is not on many people’s wish list. Consider death by diphtheria, tetanus or meningococcal disease.
Diphtheria is dangerous because the bacteria which cause it produce a toxin, which kills cells in the mouth, nose and throat. The dead cells quickly build up and form a membrane that can attach to the throat and lead to death by choking.
Tetanus would be a nasty end too. Severe tetanus-induced muscle spasms can interfere with or stop your breathing. You choke to death.
Meningococcal disease is a life-threatening infection. It is a term used to describe two major illnesses – meningitis (inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain) and septicaemia (blood poisoning). It can cause severe brain damage and is fatal in 50 per cent of cases if untreated.
But we can suffer and become paralyzed without experiencing a meeting with The Grim Reaper. People with pertussis (whooping cough) cough up large amounts of thick mucus, which may cause vomiting. Other symptoms during an attack may include bulging eyes, prominent veins in the neck and protrusion of the tongue.
Polio was nasty. An estimated 11,000 people in Canada were left paralyzed by polio between 1949 and 1954. The disease peaked in 1953 with nearly 9,000 cases and 500 deaths. Now the victims suffer from “post-polio syndrome.”
Then there are the childhood diseases of mumps, measles, chickenpox. Not life-threatening, but caused suffering.
Children no longer suffer painful, preventable childhood illnesses or are paralyzed by polio. The only way that you’re going to die from diphtheria, tetanus or meningococcal disease is if you or your parents decided that vaccination was an infringement on your liberty.
Check out https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/provincial-territorial-immunization-information/provincial-territorial-routine-vaccination-programs-infants-children.html. It shows that infants and students in Alberta all have access to vaccinations against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, meningococcal serogroup C infections, hepatitis A and B, and human papillomavirus. The vaccinations protect them against death and suffering.
I’d like the anti-vaccers out there to ask themselves why they are exposing themselves and others to COVID. Please, roll up your sleeve and get one more vaccination – just like you did when you were a kid.
John Warren
Lethbridge