To the editor:
I write this letter as a plea for help. As a member of this community and physician for 21 years, I am devastated at the destruction COVID-19 has caused. I have and continue to witness firsthand the disability and death it is causing in this community that I love and call home.I have heard many opinions regarding masks, lockdowns and now misinformation regarding vaccination. The vaccines available are a true miracle that promises to save lives and stop this pandemic in its tracks. It is safe and highly effective.
The longer we take to become fully vaccinated as a community and country, the more the virus will have a chance to mutate and evade.
Make no mistake, we are at war with this virus and we seem to be defeating ourselves at every turn. I love this community and love our great nation. As a proud American I am reminded of a quote by President John F. Kennedy at his inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
Right now this country needs you to get vaccinated. It may very well save you, your neighbor, mother, grandmother, colleague, friend or the health care workers including my wife, who stands at the front lines of caring for patients with COVID-19 right now.
Jon Older
Houlton
