OPINION: Letter to the editor: Supervisors should correct COVID misinformation

I am writing this letter in reaction to a recent headline: COVID is killing rural Americans at twice the rate of people in urban areas.

As I read the article it is like listening to the Siskiyou County COVID Town Hall that took place on Sept. 24, as the issues are exactly the same.

I heard our local healthcare experts tell us that their hospitals are running out of space, their staffs are short-handed and are being overwhelmed. They are seeing our neighbors suffer and some die from COVID.

Siskiyou County has a much lower vaccination rate than California as a whole. The reasons for vaccine hesitation are misinformation and politics.

We heard our local doctors, nurses and health administrators tell us that they need help to share accurate information about COVID.

We need our county supervisors to be a voice of truth. They need to correct misinformation when they hear it, not stand silent — or worse, encourage it.

The health experts tell us the urban-rural divide is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks.

We need our elected officials to help us to control this pandemic. It's decimating our community and if they are not willing to do their part, they should not be in office. Now is not the time for politics, I am asking that our county supervisors make an official statement and ask people to get their vaccinations and wear masks.

The headline is unacceptable and so is the inaction of our officials. Together we can work to get a handle on this pandemic.

— Alice Rogers, Mount Shasta