Testing alone not good alternative to vaccination

According to an article in Wednesday's Daily Herald, "Public health officials renew vaccination push," the new "subvariant of omicron [has] the ability to avoid detection in tests." This causes me to question whether giving people the option of testing or vaccination is truly going to reduce new cases when people continue to reject vaccination.

Omicron has proven rapidly transmissible. Within a fire department, police department, workplace, or other circumstances where testing is an accepted alternative to requiring vaccination, will cases and deaths rise again?

Another newspaper article today, detailed how testing is simply not a one-and-done proposition. Depending on exposure, or other factors, the development of symptoms or even a measurable presence of the virus can take from three days to 10 days to present. A negative fast-test result does not seem to be definitive.

How many exposed people seeing a negative test result understand the need to test themselves repeatedly over many days and how many will have the numerous tests on hand should they be needed? It does not appear that testing is a realistic alternative to vaccinations and boosters if we want to stop transmission.

Laura Haule

Warrenville