A recent survey found that a majority of unvaccinated respondents said they wouldn’t need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 because so many other people were vaccinated. Jimmy Kimmel has called these people freeloaders.

What the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers — and many vaccinated people, as well — don’t realize is that some fully vaccinated people can still test positive for COVID-19. The current estimate for “breakthrough” positives is around 10,000 individuals. Many of these breakthroughs needed to be hospitalized and 244 of them died.

Furthermore, everyone who harbors the COVID-19 virus is a host for potential mutations, any of which could be immune to our current vaccine technology. Until every area of the world can vaccinate at least 80% of the population, we all are under the threat of another pandemic.

It will be some years before we have enough information about COVID-19, “long COVID,” and breakthroughs to assess which of our strategies has been effective.

For these reasons I am happy to continue to wear a mask although I am fully Moderna vaccinated, and I’m grateful that our local businesses continue to insist on this added protection.

Barbara Wollman

Friday Harbor