I am responding to the letter to the editor from Brian Reilly (“Reader Believes COVID-19 hyped for purpose,” Sun City Independent, Jan. 12, 2022). Mr. Reilly is certainly entitled to his opinions.

I do not agree with any of the points he made in his letter to the editor, nor do I think they are based on factual information.

However, what prompted me to reply to his letter is my concern that the Independent provided a platform for COVID and election misinformation without at least pointing readers to some factual information.

The current phase of the pandemic continues to impact our hospital ER and ICU departments with unvaccinated patients, sometimes preventing other people access to medical resources that are being directed to treat the unvaccinated.

The registered voters in the 2020 presidential election chose Joe Biden by a significant margin to be the 46th president of the United States of America. The outcome of the election has been confirmed and reconfirmed in vote counts, recounts, audits and in the courts of law across the country. I understand that many people are not happy about it, and I respect that.

My opinion is that responsible journalism should provide that alongside the misinformation presented on these topics.

The real enemy is not opinions, it is misinformation (my opinion). When our “hometown, nonpartisan newspaper” does not include factual information of the actual science that has saved countless lives and the factual information about the 2020 presidential election, it is also my opinion that the newspaper dishonors people, such as the medical staff caring for the critically ill and dying COVID-19 patients and the U.S. Capital Police who defended our nation’s capital against a mob just over a year ago. Some of them died doing their job, and that is a fact.

Reader responses

• [ Medical field not conspiring about coronavirus]
• [People should rely on  facts from science about COVID-19]
• [Some Arizonans won't accept facts about COVID-19, regardless]