Response to COVID by premier a cause for despair
By Letter to the Editor on August 4, 2021.
Editor:
Well, we were doing pretty good. After an exceedingly rocky year or so Albertans were getting their shots, the infection rate was dropping and, aside from the apparently uneducable residue of ultra con, conspiracy theorists, paranoiacs, and the chronically delusional, people were beginning to see bit of daylight.
Then variants showed up and began to gain traction in the unvaccinated around the world. Those who know about these things began to warn of a 4th wave of Covid.
So what does our premier do?
He goes full on Arkansas on us. Throws all health precautions out the window,
Apparently, anything goes.
Now, I’ve had my shots. Everybody I know has had their shots. We, pretty much, still mask up in public just as a courtesy.
We try and nudge those acquaintance and family members who haven’t been immunized yet to get off the pot and get jabbed
But that leaves about a quarter of this province unjabbed, antagonistic and vulnerable.
OK, some of you will get lucky, some of you will come to your senses and some off you will get sick and die.
But I’d just like to point out that the fool kIller doesn’t care.
Act stupid long enough and your turn will come around.
It just irks me a bit that out elated leader, who should know better is just waving his hands and dancing around singing: “Every day in every way things are getting better and better.”
Sometime I despair. I really do.
Ken Sears
Lethbridge
-1
Ken you aren’t alone. Every true conservative I know is with you. We have seen enough of these Reformers, pretending to be conservatives, while trying to destroy what our hero Peter Lougheed created for us.
well, here we are almost two years along since covid snuck out of a chinese lab, and we are at a little less than 4 million deaths worldwide. not much of a number compared to the 8 billion of us chewing up the planet without much thought for our rampage. most people, the great majority, have had little to no effect from covid itself (some of the measures implemented are another story).
i appreciate the writer’s right to opinion, and to being able to decide whether or not take one of the covid vaxes. however, to label all those that still cannot feel safe taking one of those vaxes as “…ultra con, conspiracy theorists, paranoiacs, and the chronically delusional, people….” is heavy handed, unsubstantiated, loaded with hubris, and, sorry to say, ignorant as hell. and most of you with shots now behave as though you are the chosen ones in a select group. for those that have had a shot or two, if the vax works, you should be safe: just like being vaxed for measles it should not matter who else is vaxed. most of first speak of doing a duty to protect those that cannot get vaxed…what a lark, because what gets uttered immediately after is being free to travel again.
there are a few significant reasons why one is reticent to take a covid vax. i have spelled them out numerous times already in this forum. to label cautious, rational and well intentioned people that are not so easily sold with the latest idiot soundbite terms which aim to smear and shame without substance is far more harmful to society than those that sitting on the vax fence.
What idiot soundbite would that be?
The plain fact that the hordes of people (The majority in this Country) who have been vaccinated haven’t started dying left right and centre? So why don’t the reticent folks get themselves lined up now?
And while I hear you on the various backhanded references made toward those who have yet to get their shot: It also bears being said that the proportion of folks who haven’t are definitely in either some kind of Libertarian “My body my choice” category (One wonders how they feel about the question of Abortion?), or (unfourtunately) one of the very categories you mentioned.
Being a front-line worker has exposed me to the rhetoric on a near daily basis.
And guess what? It’s pretty much all of the above. And very little else (Especially anything based in scientific fact)..
there are idiot soundbites for every polarising issue today…and it is incredible how most everything is polarising with people. the soundbites were pretty much all noted by the writer, and referenced by me above. any time a person chooses to think beyond the official narrative, out come the likes of those soundbites. smear words that do nothing to enlighten the issue at hand; just an angry blow off by people that have little substance to contribute.
many people not taking covid vaxes are otherwise vaxed for many viruses. many among them do not discount that the vaxes have effect; the concern has to do with adverse effects that may emerge later on. that has not been tested because theses vaxes have not existed very long. still, good luck to everyone on this.
you have an issue with my body my choice? that is concerning – so, who/what do you turn over your to? abortion: it is solely the right of the body carrying the fetus.
This coming from a guy who admits to breaking the law buying illegal drugs and risking the fact that they might be laced with Fentanyl but doesn’t think he should trust the vaccines that are saving billions of lives and he doesn’t think his mind is clouded.
I had lunch yesterday with ten of my friends and they wouldn’t be surprised if biff has some police officers banging on his door wanting to know where he was getting his drugs, what do you think?
omg fedup; sometimes you have no clue at all. you are an absolute relic, an epitome of the woefully conditioned masses when it comes to the lies, and bs propaganda that was spewed by govt about drugs. it is at once both funny, and painful, to take in.
Exactly. And when you mention abortion, I assume you mean these same people spouting “my body my choice” automatically exclude women, so are complete hypocrites as well…
Tris here, “et tu” biff? You don’t deny that this virus has caused a pandemic though, which is concomitant with its relative severity. Not fatal to most, but to enough, and with unknown long term damages to many, speaking of that unknown…
How can you deny Ken’s commanding, and highly articulate insight when he refers to this latest iteration of science/fact denialists as an “apparently uneducable residue of ultra con, conspiracy theorists, paranoiacs and the chronically delusional?” Unless you are rightly in that group, say, one of the “paranoiacs?”
He’s also spot on about the dangers to all of us presented by the stubbornly “uneducable” among us, who are, let’s face it, disproportionately found in the conservative “base” where they are daily giving new meaning to the word.
if one is vaxed, and the vaxes work, then only those not vaxed are at “risk”. that is a choice, and it must remain a choice.
rather than repeat all the reasons behind my not taking any of these vaxes, i will prefer to refer you and others to them. but, i will restate the obvious that has been very obfuscated in the shut down of open and honest discourse on the topic: the vast majority of people are not harmed by covid. for those that feel too at risk, there are vaxes (such as moderna, which has increased about 400% since covid, and pfizer, which gained almost $8 billion in one quarter of vaxing).
to each: do as you feel is best for you; stop trying to control others. no one really knows the long term of any of the vaxes, because there has yet to be a long term study. the study is only playing out now, day by day, then year over year. the most frustrating aspect of all of this are those that purport to know everything about covid and the vaxes. it is all new, and it is all guesswork at this stage.
i wish the best for all. and, i wish people, whatever choices they make in life, would respect the right of others to make different choices.
So the Premier who was “Chosen by God” is fine with playing with people’s lives.
While trying to blame everyone other than himself for his and his Party’s failures
Oh come on Ken,all your outbursts are based on party lines. Why not just for the principal of the thing? If you can’t bash a politican,you can’t reason? What a waste of your writing skills that you always remark on the lowest and easiest fruit. Everyone has heard Dr. Hinshaw’s remarks.
Well if the shoe fits after all….and yes, everyone did hear Dr. Hinshaw’s remarks, but such is the nature of the unusually covert UCP– high-handed, and deliberately, strategically, minimally communicative (other provinces have had regular, open Q and A sessions regarding covid) that there has understandably been much speculation about Hinshaw’s relative independence in this cohort. And she’s the only public health officer in the country to recommend what she has.
It’s the DELTA Variant that really has me worried. As a demonstration of its efficiency, there were 12 cases recorded in the Southern Health Region on July 1, but by yesterday that number had exploded to 182. That’s an increase of nearly 1,500%.
If DELTA gets entrenched in the rural municipalities around Lethbridge, all of which with the exception of Pincher Creek have vaccination rates below 50%, we will truly be in a pickle.
i feel the case count is not the real issue – it is the severity of the virus. for the large majority, there is little to worry about with any of the strains to date. should one come along that is taking down the many who get it, i would likely reconsider my concerns with these vaxes. i remain reticent due to the lies and cover ups by big pharm over the decades – and here we have rushed to market products; lies and cover ups by govt since forever, and the real scary issue is that the pharms asked for received immunity from any liability on these vaxes.
good luck to all on this, vaxed or not.
The reason the case count matters, especially with the DELTA variant which is really good a replicating itself, is because with each replication of the virus comes the possibility of a genetic mutation. Thankfully, most mutations in nature are non-beneficial, but the longer the virus hangs around the greater the chances a more virulent strain will emerge. In a nutshell, that’s why it’s so important that we have as many people vaccinated as possible.
I’ve heard some people express worry that the vaccines have been developed too quickly. I can understand those concerns. However, it’s important to understand that apart from the scientically sound approval process we have in place, the fundamental research on the MRNA vaccines has been going on for about two decades. This isn’t “new” technology.
While biff brags about taking illegal drugs for 45 years and risked the fact that they could be laced with Fentanyl he doesn’t trust vaccines that are saving billions of lives and he doesn’t think his mind is clouded.
What if we had all decided that we weren’t going to get the Polio shots, small pox shots etc?
how silly are you at the core, fed up? really? fentanyl?! 45 years ago…even 10 years ago?! as for polio, this is not polio. i have also stated i am full of vaxes…just not comfortable with the covid ones.
your utter ignorance around “drugs” is simply the product of social conditioning that has been rooted in lies and propaganda. i gave a thoughtful reply to your silliness, and get only silly repetition from you. did you not read the quote by ehrlichman? you have never acknowledged any of the points i have taken the time to spell out as to how the war on drugs is the cause of issues with drugs on the planet…you just default to your social conditioned self that cannot use common sense and facts to move beyond the lies you have been fed and have swallowed all your life. am i beginning to learn you are just a one trick pony: you got the klein and alberta cons con down pat, but you seem shallow elsewhere. perhaps your milk of magnesia and geritol has not been as advertised?
the masses have been and are continually manipulated and hoodwinked. fed up, you are worthy example of such.
thanks for a thoughtful reply. it seems to me that what your last point really says is they have been trying to develop mrna vaxes for two decades: no one in any of those cos is saying they have perfected that approach; this is the best guess of each thus far.
to me, what we have is a giant lab underway. and again, no one with any feedback to the point that the pharms have been granted immunity from any liability. hardly a confidence builder. also, i keep asking and get no responses, other than “negs” by those with nothing to say, why has it come to trying to vax healthy people, and kids with novel vaxes. it seems to me to be reckless.
as for mutations, is it not that viruses actually weaken through mutations, so as to not kill the host so as the virus survives? i am asking, and not posing a question as a fact 🙂
With respect to your first point, I wasn’t as clear as I could have been regarding fundamental research. What I meant to say is that fundamental research — which is non-applied or curiosity-driven research — that informed development of the MRNA vaccines has been going on for many years. So the vaccine developers were not starting from scratch. It’s analogous to the basic research (another term for research that is not focused on immediate application) that was subsequently applied to the development of the semi-conductor. That’s the gizmo that sparked the personal computer revolution.
As for your final question, I read a paper a couple of weeks ago that reported that somewhere between 200 and 300 mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been registered on a centralized data base. Thankfully, only a few of those mutations have produced viable outcomes.
Finally, one of the other reasons that vaccines were developed so quickly is because hundreds of research groups around the world focused their resources on coming up with viable therapies. Most of the time, researchers keep their data and findings to themselves until they publish, but in this case there was a remarkable level in information sharing and cooperation. As a case in point, the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was sorted out really quickly because research groups that typically engage in intense competition cooperated on the problem and shared their findings with other researchers.
always appreciate your take and your knowledge, t.j.
i am still not hearing that these cos know enough about mrna vaxes. this is the first time they have been mass used, they are being mass issued with a novel vax for what in of itself is a novel virus; they were further released with a much shorter than is typically acceptable period of study; the cos sought and were granted immunity from liability….all that, and the fact that pharm has put out – and has tried to cover up – numerous products that have proven dangerous. now, i do feel everyone deserves some slack, and second chances…but, especially with “opioids” still scarring so many societies, it is going to take some real robust info to get me off the fence and vaxed for covid. huh, and the marketing of it as “the jab”, like it is an old friend with a jovial nickname, won’t help, either.
Pots of money being made is a given, but it doesn’t make the science any less stellar; the competitive collaboration and urgency obviously enhanced the effort. Do you actually think that MRNA affects your DNA or something? And that this virus is just another flu virus, again despite all evidence to the contrary, like the fact that it has caused a frigging pandemic. How do you just dismiss that glaring fact? TJohnston has reasonably addressed all your declared concerns and yet you persist with a flat refusal based on a distorted relative risk assessment, which makes some OTHER basic fear sound like the real issue.
1) my long term concern is that these vaxes have no long term testing history: that should be enough of a truth of itself to render caution
2) these cos – all – have asked for been granted immunity from liability: that should be enough of a truth of itself to render caution
3) these cos have a history of giving us poisons, and of trying to cover them up, and fighting to avoid paying the victims, and the victim have rarely been given just compensation: that should be enough of a truth of itself to render caution
4) science is hardly always right (see points 1-3): that should be enough of a truth of itself to render caution
not sure what is the definition of a pandemic, but it seems subjective to me. 4 million deaths worldwide, mostly those that are the most weak and vulnerable (they are/were the best candidates for these experimental stage vaxes) out of world pop of about 8 bil is hardly a pandemic…but call it what you will. perhaps we can spin this another way, and rather than keep referring to some “other” basic fear by those refusing the vaxes, might one suggest that it is heightened paranoia and lack of rational approach that has made so many rush to get these vaxes despite the many valid reasons for caution?
another concern arises from those vaxed with regard to their approach to those not vaxed: why so aggressive toward the right to make personal decisions? why so absolute – especially when one cannot be nearly absolute? are you suggesting that vaxes be made mandatory – legislated? or, just as insidious, that those not vaxed are no longer equal, and lose rights that the vaxed will have? are you suggesting in any way that the state has the final say when it comes to one’s body?
once again, if the vaxes work, and one is vaxed, rejoice. enforcing vaxing or otherwise bullying others to also get vaxed is unacceptable. you are vaxed (protected) – don’t be concerned about me or others that are exercising their right to self determination.
good luck to all as they navigate the terms of what is and should be a very difficult decision.
Try telling that to my son. He was home alone and so sick he though he was going to die. His sister was ready to call an ambulance on a day when we couldn’t contact him, we finally did.
not sure what you are referencing…that covid is not serious for the vast majority of people? i am sorry to hear of your son’s experience. i am not saying there are not those horribly affected; i am saying that they are the exception and not the rule.
i think most of us have been flattened by some virus or another, or food poisoning or whatever. and, eventually we perish…and it is that fact that assures me there is a god. once again: get a vax if that is what you feel; don’t take it if you do not feel right about it. either way, stop believing that one “knows” unequivocally anything about the damn virus, or the damn vaxes. perhaps in 5-10 years we can be more unequivocal about all of this.