LEARN FROM HISTORY

RE: Answering a reader's question on COVID and the media, Jan. 13

I wish to comment on the article answering a reader’s questions on COVID-19 and the media. I thought it was very good. Thank you for publishing a good summary of the reasons why we should be vaccinated, if it all possible. I think the public needs to know that the government of Canada and public health department would never ask us to do anything detrimental to our health and they are desperately trying to protect the general population.

I wish to communicate to the general public to go ahead and get your COVID-19 shots and to be sensible about the other restrictions following guidelines regarding masking distancing and washing your hands. We cannot rely on reactive medication to save us from this particular organism because there are just too many people that are ill.

When I think back to a time of pre-antibiotics when we had the flu pandemic at the turn of the century, all they had was the basic aseptic techniques of washing your hands, distancing, gowning, masking and isolation. They had no vaccinations against the flu pandemic. People lived or died according to how well they observed aseptic technique and good general nursing care of those who contracted the flu. We still have to rely on those basic techniques in order to survive this pandemic. Fortunately we have some extra protection by getting our COVID vaccination. One more item in our arsenal to combat this particular pandemic. Take advantage of it.

In the future you might consider running an article on the flu pandemic in 1918 and the things that were done to combat it, comparing it to our current situation. I am sure there are some interesting comparisons. We can learn from history.

FRAN GROVES, STONEY CREEK