To the editor:
Donna Steele’s column (“A COVID-19 tale of 2 sisters”, April 30) was a tale I believe could be told over and again across our nation.
Whether we find our families divided along political axes, along generational axes or simply family members who use the COVID-19 pandemic to play out long-simmering resentments, it is easy for us to see ourselves in Donna’s tale.
Of course, there are families in which there is the rare, brave, soul who bucks the family cohesiveness that binds them together. Or even more rarely the family who holds the same views sometimes for generations. No, most families are like Donna’s. One or more family members at odds with the others over social or political or economic ideas. And as usual Donna presents this idea with humor and balance.
But in this presentation of reality, I want to add a bit of my own. I am very frightened by the idea of “opening” our economy. I am not convinced the conditions are present to keep all citizens safe. Many of us, including myself, are especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus and other viruses. I am among those loosely labeled under the over age 60 and/or dealing with medical situations that make me vulnerable to infection. I have MS. I take a medication that reduces the efficiency of my immune system.
If this medication were doing nothing to improve my health, I would stop it. But, as promised it could, it has made it possible to see a slowing or stopping of symptoms. Simply put, it works.
And I am not the only person who is on this medication. Whether it is a medication for MS or a medication for any number of conditions, there are many very effective medications that compromise a person’s immune system. And there are innumerable others who run the risk of severe illness or death because of medical issues.
And, scientists tell us that until there is a treatment or vaccine, we risk the virus vastly expanding its severity and rate of occurrence. We need herd immunity. We need enough people to have a reasonable chance of fighting off this virus so people who cannot receive treatment or a vaccine can be protected by those who can receive this help.
Please, let us use the science we know and can discover to fight this pandemic.
Jim Matthews
Greenfield
