To the editor:

All the reporting on the COVID vaccine has had me thinking about how much our country has changed. As a registered nurse back in the 1950’s, I still have very vivid memories of the polio epidemic. I can still see the rows of people living inside iron lungs at the Sister Kenny Institute in Minneapolis and I remember seeing the crippling effects of polio.

I remember how our whole nation REJOICED when Dr. Salk developed a vaccine. It was an answer to all of our prayers. Vaccines for measles, diphtheria, mumps,and whooping cough followed. Over the years students received their vaccinations at school.

Politics, controversy, and misinformation NEVER played a role in vaccination and polio was eradicated. Medical doctors and scientists gave us information to make health decisions, NOT POLITICIANS.

It is my hope that cases of COVID caused by new variants don’t continue to increase. We’ve had too many deaths and too many people with long haul symptoms.

Jan Schrupp

Winthrop