My compliments to Shirley Williams of Friday Harbor for addressing the importance of honoring those who choose not to be vaccinated.

This conversation is long overdue, and it is time to recognize that there is more than one way to deal with the COVID.

We need more than a vaccine, which is not a cure but a temporary firewall that may take its own toll on human health over time.

Whole organic food, vitamins and supplements are a form of natural medicine, and can do much to strengthen our immune system.

(Israel just released a study showing Vitamin D is most helpful in treating the Covid.)

The strength of our immune system will decide who survives Covid, and natural immunity is worth more than an artificial imitation thereof.

And we would do well to note that the most virulent viruses are often zoonotic, which means they pass from the animal kingdom to people, often through human misdeeds such as wet markets, over-crowded factory farms, wild-life trade, and trophy hunting.

Were we to end the needless cruelty we inflict on animals we would lessen our own vulnerability to viruses such as Ebola, Sars, HIV, H1N1, the bird and bat flu, and possibly the Covid itself, all of which passed from the animal kingdom to the human.

Let us slow the wheel of suffering for both animal and human beings, and strengthen the health of both in the process.

Nancy Lehwalder

Orcas Island