Dear Editor:
RE: “Fears for terminated staff,” Nov. 25.
Joy Lippai rhetorically asks several questions in her letter addressing what is perceived to be the “reckless” and “careless” treatment of those who refuse to be vaccinated and, as a result of their decision, lose their jobs.
The writer contends that only the unvaccinated need worry about interacting with others of the same status. This is a very myopic view, and clearly demonstrates a lack of clear understanding of how this type of pathogen evolves.
Notwithstanding all of the statistics the writer quoted trying to show that “almost none“ of the deaths and hospitalizations mentioned were among the vaccinated, collectively we must all look at the much bigger picture here.
According to the World Heath Organization and the world banks’ 2019 (most recent) ratings of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Canada has only 2.5 hospital beds available for every 1,000 population. And Canada has average ICU capacity (actuals vary regionally) of 12.5 beds for every 100,000 population.
It doesn’t take much imagination to see why it is so important to utilize any means available to protect our healthcare system from being overwhelmed by surge after surge of COVID-19 patients.
All healthcare outcomes suffer when the acute-care system is pushed to the limits, or beyond.
I came up with an analogy to hopefully demonstrate to the writer, why it is so important to get the shot in order to help end this pandemic. Consider the global pandemic as a forest fire. As is the case with any fire, you need three conditions to be met. Needed are “fuel” (us), sufficient “heat” (the virus), and oxygen (community spread). Eliminate any one component, and the fire’s out.
Unfettered community spread is allowing this pathogen to continue to evolve through mutation. The most serious variants of the original SARS-CoV-2 pathogen have all come from regions where vaccination rates are woefully low, and/or have high population density.
Global travel realities will always ensure that new variants spread far and wide before even being identified. We saw that with delta, and now with omicron.
Almost 7.8 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally. The vast majority of Canadians have taken the shot, myself included. It has been demonstrated to be very safe, and more importantly, very effective up to this point. By allowing new variants to continue to evolve, our best tool may become inadequate.
If an individual decides that they don’t want the jab, then that should be their choice. However, they should not expect to be able to join the rest of us in unfettered participation within communal settings. The greatest good for the greatest number should always prevail.
Danny Schreiner,
Belwood