Okay, so, here's the thing: I totally understand why people are resistant to the the "vaccine passport" idea.
I'm doubly-vaxxed, and I have my passport. I was still mildly surprised that, when going to dinner last night I was asked for two pieces of ID, in addition to my passport, in order to eat in; I had left my ID at home, was not prepared for that, and had to beg for an exception to be made (I did have the QR code on my phone, and my doubly-vaxxed wife to vouch for me). Generally I have been quite compliant throughout this pandemic, and am more inclined to see incompetence and bungling, when things go wrong, than malignity or conspiracy...
...but I do have my concerns. I cannot help but wonder: we have known about Delta for awhile; we were "on track to reopen," here in BC - Dr. Henry was saying that well into August. We were vaxxed at 85% of the population or something... being assured that the vaccines were effective... that a rising case count was expected and no cause to panic... and then suddenly we were at 500, 600, 700 cases per day, and weren't on track anymore, such that Phase IV of the reopening was cancelled. Clearly something, somewhere, went wrong. Friends of mine on Facebook have weighed in that it was all down to Delta - but surely the PHO was factoring that into their plans?; others suggested that it was more about people being overconfident in the vaccines and throwing all caution to the wind (like at a certain Betty Bathory show I wrote about below). And there are no doubt people out there who are using this as an excuse to question the efficacy of the vaccines. However you explain it, there was obviously a problem somewhere. Something went wrong. We can't go from being "on track to reopen" to "Phase IV is cancelled" without it being reasonable to conclude that somewhere, the powers-that-be fucked up.
Note: I am enjoying writing "Phase IV" as a reference to the Saul Bass film, but I don't actually think the PHO used roman numerals: "We are sorry, ants are not taking over the world at this time..." (Maybe they should?).
I mean, there is more than one person in my life who is skeptical about the vaccines, resistant to them, UNVACCINATED ("unclean, unclean!"). I won't out anyone here, but I've been talking with them, you know? Maybe they're pouring poison in my ear. I do feel kind of concerned for them. I would like to see them vaccinated. I want to engage them in discussion. I do believe that our medical system is stretched to the max, and I trust that the more people who are vaccinated, the better our chances of getting out of the mess we are in while we have a semblance of normalcy to return to. But they're not insane people, folks - sorry to those of you who expect uniform railing about batshit antivax conspiracy-theory nutjobs, but I've listened to a few of the videos said friends have recommended, and it's not all dubious Trumpy conspiracy shit. No one is talking microchips that I've seen. Dr. Robert Malone is the most persuasive person I've encountered, pointing out some of the concerns about these vaccines and how they are being rolled out, and getting censured and marginalized for it; and even he is doubly-vaccinated. [Note - there is a debunking article on him online here, on the Atlantic].
But whether "spike is toxic" or not, whether VAERS numbers are apparently strikingly high for adverse reactions, whether there may be some reason for concern that the oversight in producing these particular vaccines has been, in the rush to arrive at SOMETHING, lacking, which is what Malone has suggested... neverminding all of that, I accept that the news stories about stressed out health care providers are true, here in BC. I do not doubt for a second that there is a level of desperation amongst our public planners that is behind some of the policy decisions here. I was warned that, because "COVID trumps cancer" in the hospital system, that I might face delays in getting my surgery (scheduled to go ahead middle of next week, so so-far, so good).
I mean, our medical system was stretched to the max before anyone heard of COVID-19, you know? I've had a fair share of experience with it in recent years, over the course of which I found myself watching my father die of cancer that could have been detected and removed if it wasn't for long delays in getting him in for a colonscopy; watching my mother die slowly of heart failure while the hospital worried about her gallstones, and doctors ran around behind my back cancelling suggested procedures without telling me, even though she was clearly incompetent to make decisions without me; watching myself get a gross case of (totally preventable) oral thrush after my first surgery for tongue cancer; having had an unnecessary and painful stent rammed up my penis that made me pee pink (or red) for months, caused me untold discomfort, and ultimately blocked the exit of my kidney stones from the system, which took four small surgeries and a year of deep pain to accomplish... I have had my fair share of close-up experience of the medical system over the last six years, folks, and I gotta tell you, there are some problems with it. There are tons of good people in it, and, don't get me wrong, I prefer that we have to a model where I would be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt by now, but when nurses and doctors talk about being burnt out from COVID, at the point of exhaustion, I believe them, and I look at the cocksuckers protesting outside hospitals and kind of hate them. They remind me of the limpdick coup attempt that served as the climax of the Trump shitshow in the 'States; they seem so misguided that they might as well be wearing facepaint and buffalo horns. I try to sympathize with my friends who object to these particular vaccines and are trying to delay getting them for as long as possible, because I don't think the alternative is productive - of disengaging from them and accusing them, falling into in-groups and out-groups, and blaming the people who are not complying with the suggestion to get vaccinated for the fact that we are still in a pandemic - which seems to be the tenor I see on Facebook - but I don't have any doubt at all that, when doctors and nurses and so forth plead with people to get vaccinated because the health care system is on the verge of collapse, they are 100% sincere.
I'm personally willing to oblige. But - poison! in my ear! - I do also hear some of the concerns these friends have and think them reasonable. I mean, holy hell, I'm an Astra-Zeneca person - remember that? (They've renamed it now, in an attempt to get away from the bad hoodoo around that name, but guess what, that doesn't make me MORE comfortable with them; it just makes it look like they're trying to hide something, like when Aum Shinrikyo's devotees rebranded the cult as "Aleph" to distance themselves from the bad PR from the Tokyo nerve gas attacks. I guess Karla Homolka's name change might have done her some good, mind you, because I completely forget what her new name is, but generally the strategy of hiding a dodgy past with a name change isn't very trust-inducing and puts people in pretty bad company). I sat there trustingly while my pharmacist explained to me that there are serious side effects, but very rare. I said I understood, and let them shoot it into me. Then suddenly it was not recommended and our supplies were being shipped off to developing countries... what? That change in public messaging was the first major opportunity to question that our leaders really knew what they were doing, and the Phase IV cancellation the second... And now there's a very strong likelihood that a third major shift in public messaging is coming down the chute: "Remember when we told you you only needed to be vaccinated twice, to be fully protected? Hey, sorry, that was wrong. You're going to need a booster. Actually, you might need several of them." Are they actually surprised that people are losing faith, at this point? A friend has likened the situation to Windows Update - a Long Emergency in which to remain socially enfranchised you're going to need booster after booster after booster, or else...
I mean, that's a reasonable concern, innit?
And then there's this whole vaccine passport, by which the powers-that-be, already having dubious credibility, are outsourcing the burden of pressuring people to get vaccinated to fucking restaurant workers, basically, or ticket takers at movie theatres. It's just gross, and whoever thought of it probably needs to be dismissed from office forthwith. I mean, if you're going to be totalitarian about things - if we're going to be all "ja, ve need to see your papers" about this - then just get behind yourselves and BE TOTALITARIAN: "There may be some reasonable concerns about these vaccines, but to ward off collapse economically, to keep the health care system from failing terminally, we must now ask everyone to be vaccinated." I would at least respect a flat-out vaccination mandate (what was that Colonel Kurtz was saying about, what was is it, clarity? Moral courage?). It is pathetic and wrong to make it the job of servers and clerks to try to punish people who are unvaccinated, and it's not going to protect you from people in ESSENTIAL sectors who are not vaccinated, you know? Like maybe you can feel safe in restaurants and concert venues, but it's not going to protect you from unvaccinated coworkers, unvaccinated transit users, unvaccinated shoppers at the grocery store. It is not only outsourcing the work of enforcing vaccination on the wrong people, it is only looking at a tiny area of our public lives - one that by definition is non-essential. I might feel safer going to a concert knowing that everyone in it was vaccinated, but I would rather that that was something that was accomplished by government decree and enforced by law, not at the door by the ticket takers.
If the vaccines really are so trustworthy and safe, if they really will lead us OUT of our current dilemma, then bloody well get behind yourselves, you government folk, and make it a public health order that VACCINES ARE MANDATORY. Don't just try to ANNOY people (and stress out servers) with this namby-pamby sideshow of passports. Make it a legal necessity to get vaccinated, if you are so behind these vaccines: put your money where your mouths are, kill the mixed messaging, and just MANDATE VACCINATIONS.
...but that's me. I thought the ending of Phase IV was a happy one, you know? I like ants.
No comments:
Post a Comment