Orlando E. Delogu’s “get tough on anti-vaccinators” commentary (Maine Voices, Aug. 9) was right on and is long past due. At this point, COVID infection, to a degree requiring hospitalization, is almost entirely avoidable with vaccination. Insurance needs to stop covering the medical costs of the unvaccinated, which result in increasing insurance premiums for all of us.

For those who say the vaccine is approved only for emergency use: OK, going forward, if you get sick with COVID, sorry – no very effective experimental monoclonal antibody treatments for you, which cost over $3,500 per dose. This policy will also have the added benefit of lowering housing costs by putting more on the market as the unvaccinated must sell to cover their uninsured medical expenses.

And enough of this “It’s an issue of freedom and liberty” stuff! My father was drafted early in World War II into the Army Air Corps. Near the beginning of the war, at a loss rate of nearly 10 percent, many of his fellow airmen didn’t survive the war. No choice on the matter to fly or not. If you didn’t show, it was desertion punishable by imprisonment and execution.

Plus, early in the war, there was fear that Germany would use mustard gas, as was used in World War I. Everyone was issued a mustard gas suit and a gas mask. On Wednesdays, you had to wear the extremely hot gear. If you didn’t, MPs driving around in jeeps would launch tear gas grenades your way.

Stop the coddling of anti-vaxxers and get this pandemic over.

Carl Wilcox
New Gloucester

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