Dear Editor,
In a recent report out of China, a herdsman has caught the Bubonic Plague. A 15-year-old girl from neighboring Mongolia also has the Bubonic Plague. In May, a Kazakhstan couple who visited Mongolia died.

The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) says every year in the US, 7 people are infected with the Bubonic Plague. The Bubonic Plague is a 14th century disease that killed 50 million people. Although thought to be eradicated, the Bubonic Plague still kills people in the 21st century.

Both COVID-19 and the Bubonic Plague are believed to be zoonotic diseases. They evolve. According to Darwinian theory, organisms evolve and if successful, reproduce prolifically.

There is the COVID-19 Wuhan strain that is more lethal and less transmittable than the European strain, which is less lethal but easily transmittable.

Although many believe that a vaccine will solve the pandemic, I am highly skeptical. Vaccines are helpful, but kill many worldwide. According to the International Journal of Environment, Resource and Public Health, over 490,000 persons developed paralysis as a result of oral polio vaccines between 2000 and 2017 in India.

There is a risk with every vaccine. It can be harmful to a small percentage of every population.  Is it ethical to force people to take vaccines, given the inherent risk? I, personally, think it is very complex, and a vaccine is not a silver bullet. Promoting good health and hygiene is also a lethal weapon, since patients with underlying conditions were 12 times as likely to die from COVID-19, the CDC finds.

The number one bioethical dilemma I am concerned about is the quality of education of our youth. These new COVID rules seem to be preventing face-to-face contact of teachers with students. With the young, online education is an enhancer, not the most effective primary modality.

Let us be wise and make sagacious decisions; assess and modify.

Yours truly,
Brian Ellis Plummer