Editor's note: Ms. McKenna's letter is in response to Opinion: Myth that COVID protesters don't value human life.
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The Ontario Nurses’ Association is appalled at the misguided arguments of those who equate ‘freedom’ with failing to wear a mask and social distancing to protect others during the worst global health crisis in more than a century.
The front-line registered nurses and health-care professionals in Thunder Bay and across Ontario have seen the devastation wrought on their patients – and their fellow nurses and health-care workers – by COVID-19. ONA encourages everyone to take all precautions necessary, including masking and social distancing, to keep themselves and others safe.
ONA also encourages every Ontarian to ensure they make an informed choice and accept a COVID-19 vaccine. We are privileged that science has developed a safe, highly effective vaccine so quickly, and ONA encourages all those who can to be vaccinated.
Please do not politicize COVID-19. It is highly infectious, highly dangerous and we all need to do our part to end the pandemic and return to a semblance of normality.
Vicki McKenna, RN
President, Ontario Nurses’ Association
