Boilermaker Vaccination Requirement is the Right Decision

(Opinion) The decision by the Utica Boilermaker to require vaccinations for this fall's 44th running of the 15K and 5K road race is the right thing to do.

I understand there will be people who don't agree, but I'm a firm believer that if we do what we're supposed to do now, the 45th Boilermaker will happen next year in July and there won't be any health restrictions.

Boilermaker President Mark Donovan announced the news at a press conference on Tuesday, and said that all participants must show proof of vaccination by September 22, in order to participate. The race, which was delayed from its normal date in July, is set to run on October 10. Donovan also announced that only registered and vaccinated runners will be allowed to attend the post-race party.

The decision comes as 70-percent of eligible New Yorkers have had at least one vaccination shot. New York was one of the hardest hit states in the country by COVID-19, and the Utica-Rome area saw its most severe saturation of the virus in November, December and January.

Get our free mobile app

I think the Boilermaker Committee was in a tough position where in order to allow thousands of people to gather together for the annual race, the only responsible thing to do was to make sure everyone was immunized.

The science is very clear that the vaccination is effective and those people who are protected by it, have a very low percentage of contracting the virus and getting seriously ill. In fact, a recent study by the Associated Press based on government data, shows that 99.92 percent of people who have died from COVID-19 since May were unvaccinated. That's a very convincing percentage considering of the 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May, only 150 people were vaccinated.

Kudos to the Boilermaker Committee and Mark Donovan for standing up and making a very difficult decision like this one, based only on safety. People who don't believe in getting the vaccination will simply have to sit this one out. Everyone hopes that the virus will be eradicated by next year so that this event and others like it, won't have to make tough decisions like the one Utica's Boilermaker made on Tuesday.

LOOK: Here is the richest town in each state

Just saying the names of these towns immediately conjures up images of grand mansions, luxury cars, and ritzy restaurants. Read on to see which town in your home state took the title of the richest location and which place had the highest median income in the country. Who knows—your hometown might even be on this list.

LOOK: Here Are 30 Foods That Are Poisonous to Dogs

To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet's phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice.

Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

LOOK: The most famous actress born the same year as you

Many of the actresses in this story not only made a name for themselves through their collection of iconic performances, but also through the selfless, philanthropic nature with which many of them approached their stardom. In an age of flipping the script on societal norms, many of these actresses are using their voices and platforms to be advocates for those who are otherwise unheard.