Martin Cothran misses the point in his recent letter, as do many other people in our country.  The choice to be vaccinated (and the choice to wear a mask) is not only one with personal consequences but also one with community wide consequences.  I chose to be vaccinated and hence have a much, much lower risk of becoming personally ill, needing hospitalization, or dying from Covid.  That does not mean I cannot spread the virus to and from others.  I may come in contact with someone who is infected (highly likely given the numbers in Boyle County at the moment).  I may become infected and be asymptomatic and spread this disease to my contacts.  By both being vaccinated and wearing a mask, I am trying to do my part to reduce the spread in our community.

We all felt encouraged in May and June as we saw the case load drop with more widespread vaccinations. Most (like 90%) of the recent spike in cases and hospitalizations however comes from the unvaccinated and many of us feel frustrated and angry that we are back in crisis again, but for an entirely preventable reason.  I can understand Dr. Reigelman’s position. While I do not challenge those who are unmasked and unvaccinated directly myself, I can sympathize with him.  We need to be looking out for not only ourselves but our entire community.  If you are not vaccinated (and do not have a valid medical reason for not being vaccinated), go and do this!  Today!  If you do not regularly wear a mask around others, start doing this again.  At least for the next 3-4 weeks or until the case load drops again.  Our local hospital is at capacity, and we all need to do what we can to make Danville and Boyle County a safe place to live.

Dan Nolet

Danville