Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I’m really very worried by your decision to publish the recent letter, “A word of caution on vaccine for youth” (Readers Write, June 10). At last check the CDC reports 40.7% of Mathews County as fully vaccinated—woefully insufficient to protect this area from a resurgence, especially given the continued emergence and transmission of variants internationally. The publication of letters like these certainly won’t help matters.

Ms. Giardina’s argument probably sounds convincing to anyone inclined to distrust scientists, or vaccines, or the government, but her sources are bad, her data are misrepresented, and her advice is potentially harmful. Her claim that children are largely unaffected by COVID fails to account for their ability to catch and transmit the virus to those who are more likely to be affected: their parents, teachers, grandparents, and vulnerable members of the public. She quotes Mike Yeadon, whose recent statements have been roundly condemned...