Editor, The Beacon:

I found Charles Matousek’s letter on COVID disappointing. First, he makes fun of people trying to protect their health, while promoting the right-wing meme “Washington wants to control you.”

Second, he does not accurately report President Biden or CDC recommendations, which are for everyone, vaccinated or not, to wear masks in crowded indoor situations. President Biden still wears a mask in recommended situations.

It’s true the vaccinated are unlikely to come down with an active case of COVID. One study predicts only one in 100 vaccinated people will be so unlucky. Those are great odds. With more than 200 million vaccinated and the goal of more than 300 million, we can expect more than 3 million vaccinated Americans will experience breakthrough cases.

Having drawn the short straw, they are still lucky. They are far less likely to be hospitalized, put on a ventilator, or die. But those odds are not zero. Already, more than 30,000 vaccinated people required hospitalization to survive, and more than 10,000 have died. Since 740,000 unvaccinated people have died and millions more are living with long-term COVID and permanent organ damage, odds for the vaccinated staying healthy are excellent.

Matousek’s recommendation that we ignore CDC recommendations designed to protect the health and welfare of Americans is troubling.

Sam Sloss

DeLand

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Margie Dykes
Raised in Miami Beach, Margie moved to DeLand after graduating from Florida State University. She has a master's degree in community mental-health counseling, and retired after 12 years in substance-abuse treatment. Having worked at the DeLand Sun News during the 1980s, Margie came to The Beacon in 2002 in search of a second career. She helps the reporters; compiles obituaries, the calendar of events and religion news; and deals with a mountain of emails each day. Margie is the proud Nana to two grandchildren, Sophia and Alex.

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