Letters to the Editor: That anti-vaccine LAFD captain is free to quit

To the editor: I am a retired public school educator who started teaching in the early 1980s with a clear credential. In the 1990s, I was presented with a situation similar to the one now faced by Los Angeles firefighters, who are required to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

I had a choice: I could go back to school on my own time and get the required credential, or I could no longer teach. I realized that I chose to serve the public, whose needs outweighed my personal ones. So I got the credential and continued teaching.

I believe the Los Angeles Fire Department captain who spoke against the city’s vaccine mandate in a video does have a choice: He can be vaccinated or seek employment elsewhere.

Chris Cornell, La Crescenta

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To the editor: LAFD Capt. Cristian Granucci is wrong. He’s worse than wrong; he’s a dupe.

“Freedom of choice,” as he calls it, is a delusion for a narcissistic choice. He and other public health officials do not have the right to endanger lives. If he cannot understand such a simple concept or be enlightened by the math, then perhaps it is time for him to stand down as a firefighter.

So far, more than 360 million vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S., and three deaths have been linked to the vaccines. In contrast, more than 620,000 unvaccinated people have died in this country. It is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has received full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with the other vaccines surely soon to follow.

Yes, there are a small number of people for whom vaccination is contraindicated. For the vast majority, it’s time to end the drama and roll up your sleeves. There is no rationale to your arguments.

Karen Samski, Sherman Oaks

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To the editor: I share the LAFD captain’s anger at the tyranny imposed by our government. I feel the same frustration when I am required to stop at a green light so that one of his horn-blowing, light-flashing trucks wants to enter the intersection.

We should band with all food-service workers who must wash their hands after urinating and defy these ridiculous, despotic impositions.

Mark Stephen Mrotek, Carson

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To the editor: Raging against the city vaccination requirement that he calls “tyranny,” Capt. Granucci said, “I am so hopping mad … my head could pop.”

I certainly hope that doesn’t happen, since depending on where he is, he might not get medical attention with hospitals being filled with unvaccinated COVID-19 patients.

Linda Shahinian, Culver City