SB 345 would restrict public health interventions against COVID-19
I was disappointed to watch SB 345 advance through the Georgia House Health and Human Services Committee meeting on March 22 on the path to becoming state law.
This bill would prohibit state and local governments from mandating proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Seeing as Georgia already requires children in public school to provide evidence of 8 vaccination series, the timing of this bill’s introduction and focus on a single vaccine amid a rapidly changing global pandemic is suspicious for being politically motivated.
Personal choice to opt-out of a safe vaccine comes with very public consequences in the form of increased risk for the most vulnerable community members, overfilled ICUs, delayed medical care, provider shortages and depletion of public funds. Restricting the scope of public health interventions against a preventable virus that has already killed over 30,000 Georgia residents is a shameful event that history will not look kindly on.
EVAN FINCH, EMORY UNIVERSITY M.D./M.P.H. STUDENT
Southerners not ignorant or slow as some characterize
I can understand the letter from the Emory-educated attorney quite well (Readers Write, March 22). I did not go to Emory. I was successful in sales in my first territory in Florida. Because of that, I was transferred to the NYC territory of Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, Westchester and Rockland counties. I worked for a major publishing house and my customer base was college and university professors. Generally, the professor I was calling on was not insulting. However, several others in an office talked about me behind my back in Yiddish. Yiddish is a German dialect. I had taken four years of German and was about fluent. Learning Yiddish was not a problem. On departing the office, I looked at the others and said, in Yiddish, “glad to have met you and look forward to seeing you again.” They turned Coca-Cola red.
I don’t mind being thought of as ignorant, slow, or other characteristics attributed to Southerners. Not being dumb, but being thought dumb, is an advantage.
RALEIGH PERRY, BUFORD
