If you have been reading this blog lately, you will likely know the low opinion I hold of those who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Despite rising cases of the much more contagious and lethal Delta variant, the statistics regarding the vaccine-resistant barely change.
What is a sane, reasonably intelligent person to do, given that these people seem to be dictating the agenda?
Matt Elliott thinks he has the answer.
Ontario’s public health units have done a bang-up job of getting us vaccinated. But there’s a stubborn percentage that won’t get the shots. With variants circulating and Ontario reopening, it seems plausible this unvaccinated part of the population could give us escalating case counts and — the real red flag to worry about — increasing hospitalization numbers.
If that does happen, a return to general lockdowns would be really hard to take. Those of us who dutifully followed the rules for more than a year and got our shots at the first opportunity will rightly raise hell if this government moves to restrict us again. The obvious thing to do instead would be restrict activities based on vaccination status.
Leave the province largely open for people who have received their vaccines. Limit activities for those who have made the choice to leave themselves more vulnerable to a virus that could overwhelm the hospital system again. And protect those, like young children and people with legitimate diagnosed health conditions, who remain vulnerable to COVID-19 and aren’t able to get vaccinated.
Unfortunately, here in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has ruled out that option. Whether for reasons ideological, political or cognitive, he has said that he doesn't want a divided society, but that is exactly what he already has, and the problem will only get worse. With his own limited abilities, he may even think that restricting access to restaurants, movie theatres, nightclubs, concert and sports venues, etc. will hurt the commercial bottom line, but if another lockdown becomes necessary, that is exactly what will happen.
We are told by various experts that we need to cajole, empathize with and show compassion toward the recalcitrant. In my mind, once the carrot fails, it is time to wield the stick.
Vaccine passports are the best solution for our troubled times.
What does it say for us when political ideologies influence, in some ways even dominate, public health decision making?
ReplyDeleteThis makes me yearn for the good old days when communities that rejected social mores absented themselves to form their own societies. Quakers, Mennonites, Dukhobors all come to mind. Why should the anti-vax/conspiracy theory cults not also head for the exits?
Failing self-exile, Mound, these people should be quarantined for the safety of the rest of us. Unfortunately, they not only lack the common sense the times call for, but also the strange conviction that their views should trump those of normal society.
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