Make a difference with masks, boosters

U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele’s commentary outlining 10 actions that our state government must adopt to effect COVID-19 resiliency was pretty spot on (“A new COVID-resilient ‘normal’ overdue,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Jan. 19). However, I would add an 11th action.

Every single one of us must do our part to bring COVID-19 under control. It’s easy to come up with actions that our government should adopt, but we tend to forget that we are the government and the government is us.

Every day, each of us must put on a KN95 or N95 mask and keep it on all day, indoors or out. When family members scatter in the morning toward their various pursuits, they enter others’ bubbles. If not diligent with masking and distancing, COVID-19 can be brought home to the family bubble.

No one likes masks and distancing. Let’s all just suck it up, wear our masks, get our full set of vaccinations and boosters, and work together to get COVID-19 controlled. Just do it.

Anne Wheelock

Nuuanu

U.S. should support global vaccinations

As our hospitals fill again with the unvaccinated and immunocompromised, the omicron variant has proven once again that the only way out of COVID-19 is to ensure that everyone has access to vaccines and other life-saving tools.

And though anyone in the U.S. who wants to be vaccinated can be, that is not the case for people living in low- and middle-income countries. Five-and-a-half million people have died of COVID-19 globally and the pandemic has had severe corollary effects that have dramatically increased global poverty.

With U.S. leadership, the world has set a global goal of vaccinating 70% of the population by September 2022. This would save lives, slow the incubation of variants, and allow economies to recover. This is a great goal, but it also requires funding.

The estimated cost of reaching the goal is $63 billion.

The U.S. fair share of that would be $17 billion. The president must request the $17 billion vaccine supplemental, and Congress should include it in the final fiscal year 2022 spending bill.

Tia Pearson

Wahiawa

Children learn better in classroom

In response to “Keeping schools open about money, not kids” (Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 18): I am guessing the writer retired from teaching before distance learning was imposed due to COVID-19.

If she were still a classroom teacher, I think she would realize how much better students learn academics and can practice socialization in school versus being at home in front of a device (while babysitting, playing video games, sleeping, looking at YouTube).

Trying to make up for lost classroom time is certainly a challenge, yet most students want to be in school. They want to be with other kids.

Vaccinations are available to children 5 and up, and boosters to those 12 and up.

As an active teacher, I urge families to stay healthy and keep their children in school so they have opportunities to socialize with peers and to catch up academically.

Louise Furniss

Kalihi Valley

Mayor should take position on Red Hill

What is a “no comment” position?

The mayor of Honolulu has no position on a water contamination crisis that affects most of Honolulu. What an awful public position.

He should personally interview those who have been poisoned by the contamination, and visit the schools and homes that can’t be entered or visited. Who will live in these contaminated homes? Who will attend school here?

President Joe Biden recently addressed the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He should give our mayor a word on how to take care of water contamination.

I hope that Biden addresses our immediate concerns.

Jay Pineda

Waikiki

‘Don’t Look Up’ has lessons about denial

Several excellent critiques of the science presented in the hit Netflix film, “Don’t Look Up,” can be found on YouTube. As allegory, however, the film excels in depicting the consequence of not accepting documented, verifiable evidence that goes against positions held contrary to fact.

This tendency toward denial sometimes seems the default position of the human being. A list of beliefs not supported by reasonable confirmation or proof would include many held as sacred, sacrosanct and accepted beyond question.

We should all periodically look down at, look into and look about for counters to our most cherished accepted notions. Truth and reality are synonymous, but not always obvious.

Kenneth F. Nelson

Waipahu

>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), 529-4750 (fax), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter