By ROBERT BOURQUE, Ph.D., P.E.
Los Alamos

I am replying to the unnamed anti-vaxer’s comment in the Aug. 11 Letters, and to others who are reluctant or refuse to get the COVID vaccines because they are “experimental”.

That seems to be just a legality to cover liability. In fact, experiments have already been done on nearly 200,000,000 “guinea pigs” in the US.  And the vaccines have been proven to be well over 99 percent effective. Isn’t that enough?

I’m sorry, but it is not one’s First Amendment right to infect other people. Just like it is not one’s First Amendment right to drive without a seatbelt. Vaccinations must be mandatory – nationwide. It’s time for Faux News, so-called experts, and self-serving Republicans to step aside and stop making it a political issue. Too much is at stake. It’s a health issue, nothing more. The only advice to heed is from one’s doctors and other trained, certified medical professionals.

I am 80; so even though I got both shots months ago, I still need to be very wary of the Delta variant that could be festering in the anti-vaxer’s bodies. Because of them, I no longer get hugs from lovely ladies, let alone kisses. Because of them I am nervous about going shopping: Who there is obeying the mask honor system and who is not? Take a guess.

Vehicles license plates in New Hampshire have the questionable saying “Live Free or Die”. Well, in this era of vaccine deniers, that slogan can be modified to say “Live Free and Die”.

We shoot sedative darts into wild animals, like bobcats and bears, so we can give them disease-preventing shots. Wouldn’t it be nice to do that with the anti-vaxers. Their so-called freedom is not only preventing our freedom: they are killing people. Enough of this stupidity!

Here’s a suggestion for a bumper sticker: “What would Dr. Salk say?”