This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As the flu epidemic rages, I keep seeing reports about the idiots who haven't yet gotten their flu shots. What's wrong with these people? They seem not to care about their fellow humans, or even themselves.
Maybe it's the same people who deny climate change and science in general.
At the Democratic National Convention, President Bill Clinton summed up his political philosophy: "We're all in this together." That's especially true in the fight against communicable diseases. Everyone needs to do their part.
Even now, there are only two states where more than half of the people have been vaccinated for this year's flu: sparsely populated South Dakota, with its tradition of high vaccination rates, and Massachusetts, with its universal health care.
Most states with the lowest vaccination rates are the don't-tread-on-me states of the West and the South.
People, we really are in this together, and that's why we need universal health care — just another example of a government "for the people."
Massimo Peers
Park City