Vaccinate people age 80 before 60

Gov. DeSantis said he will open vaccinations to people over 60 (starting Monday).  What is going on in his head? Editorials, newscasts and articles in the paper show people over 65 still pleading, crying and begging for a vaccination. That includes many over 85 who have not been inoculated. Those folks may not have the capacity or help from others to play the roulette wheel of fortune in securing an appointment for the vaccine.

Please, I beg you, give us a phone number that can be used only by those over 65, including those with underlying conditions and veterans of war. The governor said the demand from people over 65 is softening, but if you make it easier for them to contact someone for an appointment, the phone lines will light up like a Christmas tree.

How in God’s name could the governor open up the vaccine to people under 65 when there are still thousands, maybe tens of thousands, over 65 or impaired not yet inoculated? How does he sleep at night?

Patricia Roberts, Fort Myers area

VA should be doing more vaccinating

Veterans took time out of their lives and time away from the job market to serve and protect family, friends and neighbors. When young, they gave years of their lives, underpaid, in places away from their families. Some came home in need of health services, depending on the medical service being there to be provided. It’s called the VA, but more often than not, it is second-rate, for many reasons.

It’s the government’s problem because it is riddled with favoritism, among many of its problems.

This letter was prompted by letters to the editor from veterans up in years and struggling to get COVID shots because the VA once again has shot itself in the foot, not doing enough to pay back those who gave.

“I thank you for your service” are just words, shop-worn. The VA has not stepped up and advocated for veterans.

I am a veteran and lucky enough as a cancer survivor to have the vigor to chase and get my shot, but there are many who in their self-sufficiency are overlooked.

This latest is an example of the VA not doing its job. Imagine Publix has more vaccine than the VA. Shameful.

Robert Harris, North Fort Myers

‘Raise requirement to 70’ for vaccine

I am disappointed to read that Gov. DeSantis is dropping the age to 60 for people to get COVID vaccine. I am nearing 80 years old and my wife is 78. We have been trying since the second week in January to find someplace to get the vaccine.

We have listed our name on wait lists. Three times a week I am on the Publix site, with no success. I came close, but they did not give me enough time to fill in the data before they released the time I selected. I understand they have now changed that routine.

I even stop at pharmacies late in the afternoon to see if there were any cancellations. I read many other similar stories.

My recommendation is to raise the requirement to 70 or maybe 75 to make sure we old ones all get the shot. We are by far the most vulnerable to suffer from getting the virus, and I in particular have an issue with not having a complete lung.

George Janac, North Naples

Some get but don’t need COVID aid 

In response to (the writer of the letter) “Where COVID relief money ends up,” you noted you cannot understand why Republicans are against COVID relief money to the poor and needy and that relief money will not be used to invest in the stock market to parlay into monetary gains. That is exactly what I had considered doing with my first stimulus check, if I had not decided to donate to a local hospital’s COVID relief fund.

The criteria for who receives a stimulus check is laughable. Any money should be directed to exactly those you note, the “poor and needy,” not someone like myself who has not lost a job or been subject to any financial strains during this pandemic. 

By the way, I submit this letter from poolside of a winter vacation home while I bask in the sun, sipping on a pina colada, anxiously awaiting my next stimulus check for the “poor and needy.” 

J. Silversein, Naples

Donalds’ remark about relief bill false

To U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds:

Your “Weekly Wrap Up” (dated March 8 online) begins with a statement that 90% of the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill will go to “Nancy Pelosi’s cronies’ pockets.” That is false.

You are uniquely positioned to expand the Republican voter base. Please stop parroting cable news nonsense. Deal with the facts, not false appeals to your narrow perception of the “base.”

Peter Fagan, North Naples

Bill filed to favor DeSantis in election

The Legislature and the governor are trying to manipulate the rules governing our elections to favor Gov. Ron DeSantis’ race for re-election next year.

Sen. Dennis Baxley, chairman of the Ethics and Elections Committee, is pushing SB 90, which would wipe the slate clean of all pending applications to vote by mail. The governor supports the proposal.

Democrats came out of the 2020 presidential election with a significant advantage. This wasn’t surprising: Democratic voters were encouraged to vote by mail to reduce exposure to the coronavirus; Republican voters were encouraged by their presidential candidate to shun voting by mail.

Now come Baxley and DeSantis to claim that in order to bolster citizens’ confidence in the integrity of the election system, voters should be required to request a mail ballot for each election rather than, as at present, have their applications approved for two general elections. The result, if the legislation is approved, would be hundreds of thousands of Florida voters would have their vote by mail applications erased, forcing them to re-apply.

Of course, confidence in the integrity of our elections is needed only because people such as former President Trump and Gov. DeSantis are fostering the big lie that there was fraud in the last election, particularly in the swing states and particularly with regard to mail ballots.

Howard Simon, Sanibel

‘Stand up to’ Saudi prince over killing

In 1170, England’s King Henry II asked: “Is there anyone who will rid me of this pesky priest?” 

His wrath was aimed at Thomas Becket, whom Henry had appointed archbishop  but who refused to go along with the king’s wishes. The liegemen dispatched Becket at the Canterbury Cathedral.

That brutal murder struck a chord with me when I learned of the fate of Jamal Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi  embassy in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018. It appears the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi was carried out by operatives acting on the orders of or at least with the full awareness of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

The atrocious killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who lived in Virginia and criticized the Saudi regime in columns for The Washington Post, made headlines around the world.

Although never formally accused of the crime, the crown prince all but acknowledged his complicity in the murder and ordered that those who carried out the deed be punished.

Now, after all this time, it is up to us here in the U.S, from whose soil this journalist worked, to register our outrage beyond simply leveling financial sanctions and travel restrictions on those responsible for the barbaric acts. It is a test of the Biden administration’s willingness to stand up to inhumanity

Robert P. Sanchez, North Naples

Read or Share this story: https://www.naplesnews.com/story/opinion/readers/2021/03/10/letters-editor-wednesday-march-10-2021/4644031001/