I am not surprised by the misinformation, regurgitated lies, vitriol and hatred in evidence at the Kern High School District board meeting. I am deeply saddened and disturbed by them. Why has taking a few commonplace, effective and proven health protection steps to safeguard our children, ourselves and our community become a cause for public disorder, rudeness, bullying, threats and, at times, violence?

I sincerely ask each of those who oppose getting the COVID-19 vaccination to consider the reasons for your opposition and the sources of your information. Is your opinion based on some radio or TV talk show host’s claims, or those of their “guests”? What is their motivation and agenda, ratings/politics? What expertise do they have in medicine, public health, virology or immunology? What peer-reviewed studies and controlled experiments do they rely on? Have you fact-checked any of those claims with reliable, knowledgeable and apolitical sources? Are you so gullible to believe the nonsense that the vaccine will make you magnetic, has microchips, is killing people by the tens of thousands, or other pernicious lies? Is it a political/cultural identity thing for you?