Dear Neighbors,

Let’s have a BORING HOLIDAY SEASON.

I have been a doctor in our community for the past 40 years. This year we are facing a looming medical disaster. If we visit with our families, move about the community, or travel the way we did at Thanksgiving, in a few weeks our hospitals, ERs, and Clinics will be overflowing; not with Holiday cheer, but with our very sick loved ones and neighbors. Even if you are young and not fearful of Covid itself, full emergency rooms and ICU means that if you are in an accident, have appendicitis, or your child gets sick, there will be no room for them.

The only way we can stop this from happening is to stay home, not travel, not invite friends and family to come to Santa Barbara, and generally have the most boring, but safe Holidays of our lives. If we do come January, we stand some chance of getting this disease under control with a rapid roll out of the vaccine to the community. If we don’t, then it’s going to be many more months of very sad and scary times for all of us.

Wishing you a safe, healthy and BORING Holidays!

William Meller MD Medical Director Med Centers of Santa Barbara

Source: SB Independent