Letters

A recent opinion piece by Tom Clavin revealed his personal distaste for mandates regarding vaccines and masks [“Who Is That Masked Man?” The Road Not Taken, Opinion, September 16] and went on to provide facts behind his self-compliance, concluding that the science overrides his personal objections.

His efforts make no mention of the many countervailing studies that account for the skepticism and perhaps the reason many health care workers are refusing to get vaccinated at the risk of losing their livelihood. It may be their reasons are not just politically motivated.

A “Physicians Declaration” by an international alliance of physicians and medical scientists states that the current treatment recommendations by policy-makers have resulted in “needless illness and death rather than upholding fundamental concepts of individualized, personalized approach to patient care.” As of 7 p.m. on September 27, this declaration has been signed by 5,200 practitioners. The number of signatories is growing daily.

This declaration was first released at the Global COVID Summit in Rome, which began on May 21 and reflects only a small portion of front-line workers who are fully aware that policy-makers’ enforcement of this “one-size-fits-all” treatment is killing patients or needlessly causing suffering.

Safe and more effective treatments are reviewed in depth in the May/June 2021 issue of the American Journal of Therapeutics, which concludes a startling reduction in treatment time and far better outcomes when used in early treatment for COVID-19 than is presently happening in the USA. These treatments are the standard of care in Brazil, Czech Republic, Slovakia and other nations. This basic treatment regimen costs about $25, compared to approximately $2,500 and for a commonly prescribed five-day treatment used in our country.

I don’t think there is any doubt the vaccines work. I do believe that right now for people with co-morbidities and compromised immune systems, more lives are saved than lost. I also surmise, however, that the shots are a much higher risk for the healthy who would not need the shots at all if given the proper therapies early when they first became ill. Clearly, there are many thousands of doctors and health care workers who feel the same. Ironically, last year’s heroes are now facing ostracization and financial hardship.

I ask you, then, whose science are we following? Perhaps we should follow the money. I am not an anti-vaxxer — I am simply reporting readily available but conspicuously ignored information. What is being promoted is that there is only one standard of care, when, indeed, there are several very effective treatments that are being deliberately shunned so billions of dollars can be made on a decidedly experimental vaccine and an extremely expensive standard of care.

In conclusion, as Mr. Clavin opines, “if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck …”

John Porta

Westhampton