January 2023 - 7

IN Box
Keep the vaccine
requirement
In response to letters from the
November issue, as well as the online
survey asking members if the COVID
vaccine requirement at tournaments
ought to be maintained, we received
quite a few letters from members arguing
that the policy needs to be kept
for the time being.
I hope that the ACBL will not make
decisions about health policies based
on who cries loudest. Other venues
may have eliminated the vaccine
requirement, and we can all choose
whether to attend. One reason I do
attend the local club (and do not sign
up for cruises) is the presence and
enforcement of the vaccine requirement.
I strongly believe that the
ACBL should retain the requirement,
and perhaps add a flu vaccine requirement
as well.
The reliance on anecdotal data by
many correspondents is puzzling.
One would have thought that bridge
players are able to understand that
life is governed by probabilities.
Sometimes it is right to finesse and
sometimes it isn't, and sometimes
players who ignore the odds are successful.
Some heavy smokers never
get cancer, but some nonsmokers
do. Vaccination is not a guarantee
against the contraction and dissemination
of COVID, but it has been
shown to reduce the incidence and
severity of the disease. It has not been
shown to cause serious side effects.
Even if we put public health
aside (not a good idea), there is still
the question of whether a vaccine
requirement will encourage or
discourage attendance at bridge
tournaments. Surely the ACBL has
sufficient resources to undertake a
valid survey of its members to ascertain
the majority view.
JOSEPH FREEDMAN
Albuquerque NM
Concerning removal of the vaccine
requirement, rather than relying
on popular opinion or looking at the
bottom line with possible increased
income from increased attendance,
I would recommend consulting with
infectious disease specialists.
The overwhelming majority of
COVID deaths (once access to vaccination
was available) have been
among the unvaccinated. The risk of
live events for the unvaccinated would
not be confined to them. Vaccinated
members could still be seriously
infected, including the possibility of
long-term COVID. Attendance could
actually decrease. Older members
would be at the greatest risk. There
will hopefully be a right time to remove
the requirement, but we aren't
there now. COVID is still a major
health issue, the virus is still mutating.
The unvaccinated have the right
to refuse the vaccine, but the vaccinated
shouldn't be exposed to this
unnecessary risk at the bridge table.
I say this at the same time I am
confined to play online with one of
my favorite partners who chooses to
remain unvaccinated. Please think
and act wisely here, not emotionally
or irrationally. The health and safety
of the membership should be paramount.
JERRY
FRANKEL, MD (retired)
Plano TX
Several players have recently argued
that the tournament attendance
would go up if the vaccination requirement
was dropped. Maybe this is true,
but the number of COVID infections
and deaths would also increase. In November
2022, about 300 people died
from COVID every day in the U.S.
How about going for an approach
that would allow all players to attend
tournaments while at the same time
achieve maximum COVID protection
for everybody? This approach is
simple: Everybody who doesn't have
a documented medical reason why
they cannot be vaccinated gets the
vaccine. Then everybody can attend
tournaments, vaccinated or not, and
we will all be as well protected as we
can be. As a bonus, our grandparents
with compromised immune defense
systems, and our grandkids not yet
old enough to be vaccinated, would
also be less likely to die from COVID.
MAGNUS WEIMAN
Lynchburg VA
As a retired health care professional
and a bridge player (not professional!),
I am in total agreement with the
vaccination policy requirements of
the ACBL. My first question is, " Why
didn't you get vaccinated? " They're
easy to get and cheap. What would
have happened in the 1950s if we'd
had this opinion regarding polio?
Three letters to the editor in the
November issue stated things such
as, " The ACBL restrictions aren't
protecting anybody ... and we have
learned (they) don't prevent transmission. "
Also, " Cruise lines are
dropping their COVID mandates. "
Yes, COVID restrictions are protecting
you. Despite the fact you may
contract it even if vaccinated, you are
much less likely to get seriously ill
and end up on ventilator (not a pretty
picture if you've ever seen someone
on it). And the cruise lines' only mandate
is to get people taking cruises.
I have already received four COVID
shots and will get my bivalent booster
along with my flu shot. I do it for me,
my family, my fellow bridge players,
and, as important, for the health care
workers who are tired and burned out
having to look after more sick persons
with COVID.
This disease is a matter of life and
death. On the other hand, bridge ...
maybe not so much.
JOAN SLOVER
St. Clements ON
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January 2023 | Bridge Bulletin |
7
January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2023
