opinion/letters

As the disastrous results of Governor DeSantis COVID policies continue to unfold, he has decided to hedge his bet with Regeneron. Regeneron, a post-infection treatment costing $310 per treatment, is his Johnny-come-lately effort to stem the tide of illness and death his lack of leadership has allowed tovirtually go unchecked.

Im not suggesting that Regeneron is a bad thing, only that masks and vaccines combined cost far less than $310, and no reasonable person questions their efficacy. Rather than play fast and loose with the wellbeing of his constituents in order to gain the White House, which is despicable, he should have followed the science from the beginning.

Gary McManus,Jacksonville

New York City is requiring proof of Covid vaccination to attend many events including indoor dining. This is sound policy and must be extended to include all situations where people might gather including political rallies.

This is done to protect the public and allow the authorities to regulate the coming and going of potential political dissidents who object to our sensible policies.

A paper card is an inadequate form of identification since it can be easily forged. We must adopt a state of theart technology such as each person's cell phone as the only proper device to identify those who would break the law. Cell phones have the additional advantage of being accessible online for review by authorities. It will additionally be updated with other data about an individual such as their criminal record, organizations they belong to, and voting identification. For their protection, it would contain GPS information about their movement and present location in case of an emergency.

It would become the primary identification for boarding an airline, train, bus or any kind of public transportation. Total public safety. The cell phone can be quickly and easily scanned electronically for quick approval. You won't have to take it out of your pocket since it can get scanned as you walk by a scanning station.

Requiring everybody to have a cell phone puts everybody in easy contact with others thereby helping to unite all of us as one nation.

Alan Pease, Jacksonville

Floridas political sycophant-in-chief, Ron DeSantis, pushes his political ambitions by catering to his base. He deflects attention from his failure to manage the explosion of Delta infections and placates vaccine deniers by being an equivocator. He expands his position with Live Free or Die adherents by ridiculing face masks.

Numerous clusters of COVID-19 infections have spread among congregations, camps, schools, social gatherings. Rather than implementing public health measures, he promotes a fiction that Central American immigrants have caused the spike of infections.

He minimizes the risk of Delta for children by diverting attention to Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), an annual seasonal infection with relatively low mortality. He claims that face mask mandates infringe on parental rights. The double absurdity here is that RSV pales compared to COVID and more importantly, its spread is limited by face masks, handwashing, and soon, vaccines.

Recently, DeSantis topped himself. He acted heroically for having brought immune therapy for infected people to Jacksonville. I dont know how much this specific treatment costs, but typically, immunotherapy infusions cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. Even elementary school children know the Ben Franklin adage, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. DeSantis must have skipped that day.

Bottom line: the person responsible for promoting the health of all Floridians is passive in the vaccination effort, obstructive in the use of face masks, and misleading about the threat we face. He claims his positions are consistent with conservative principles to protect the economy and individual rights. But how does a fiscal conservative promote an expensive treatment instead of low-cost vaccines and masks? Whom will he blame for the economic downturn when the labor force has been decimated and people are hunkered down at home?

Stephen Entman, Jacksonville

A major responsibility of Governor DeSantis job is to protect citizens from harm. His current strategy of appeasing radicals does not meet his responsibility, and it will not defeat the pandemic. Infact, it makesmattersworse. Masks, distancing and vaccination are not matters of personal freedom.They are highly effective and palatable tools of public safety.

The governorshould look at the facts; masks, distancing and vaccination work. In fact, they are the most effective tools currently available to beat the pandemic.The governorshould stop ignoring them. They are the key to ending this medical and social nightmare.

IfThe governoris taking advice from Donald Trump, he should stop. He may be a good real estate salesman, and he may know how to get elected, but he is not a doctor. The governor, for the sake of the welfare of the citizens of Florida, and now the children whose health and well-being are needlessly threatened should have a change of heart. He should abandon the rhetoric of division and strife, and embrace the proven, effective tools of success; masks, distancing and vaccination.

The governor has an opportunity to be successful, but he must put the health and well-being of the citizens of Florida ahead of his personal ambition. Will he do that?

I have heard the governor is a graduate of Harvard, I find it very difficult to see that he has gained any benefit from that distinction when I observe the devastating consequences of his behavior dealing with the pandemic.

Richard Cortell,Elkton

Read more:

Letters: Post-Covid infection treatment is not the answer - The Florida Times-Union