The Canadians are more European than they are American, so they're quite happy to let government walk all over them:
The Canadian province of Quebec, which is the most affected by a surge in COVID-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant, has introduced new restrictions against unvaccinated people.
From now on, liquor and cannabis stores are only accessible to people who are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Health officials say they hope the order will encourage more people to get vaccinated...
Canada used to be a fun place to visit--yes, their politics are weird, but the Canucks themselves were mostly harmless. Now even the Canadians are willing to use government to pester their own people--and don't think it will stop with simple pestering.
This isn't securing the rights of the people. This is trampling on those rights. This is abusive. It's punitive. And it deserves more than just being voted out of office.
12 comments:
2G and 2G+ seem to have worked in Germany. Perhaps Quebec gov is using evidence based science to quell the spread?
My mom's been watching the Tennis Channel with the Australian Open underway. Australia has bought ad time on the channel, touting tourism to Oz. After the Djokovic fiasco, who in their right mind would want to book a ticket there now?
-- Ann in L.A.
lgm: I find it odd that of all the teachers at my school who have tested positive for the 'rona, *not one* of our unvaccinated teachers has. Evidence based science? Only if you cherry pick. The data is all over the place.
how often are the teachers tested?
Do you consider your sample size statistically significant?
I suspect that there are other factors at play aside from waning immunity in the vaxxed and/or boosted. Aside from genetic variations & individual differences in frequency of partying in large groups for extended periods of time... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8727532/ -- Vitamin D levels which is also a proxy for obesity & overweight (fat stores vitamin d that would ordinarily circulate) seems most relevant, as it is with other coronoviruses. That's a $50 lab test here, on top of the draw fee. Maybe you could set up your own multifactorial experiment, if you have a big enough sample size that it would be valid.
I grant it's a small sample size. It's an anecdote. To use the terminology of the left, it's my "lived experience", which obviously counts for everything.
Our unvaccinated teachers are tested weekly.
I doubt, by the way, that the unvaxxed will not be able to get their liquor and cannabis...the practice in other (European) countries where retail 2G is in effect for nonessential businesses is curbside pickup or delivery for those who don't qualify to come inside. My US friends who counsel addicts basically say the gov is aware of the effect of cutting off supply to alcoholics, and is not going to do so.
Role of gov is a better future for all, not just the genetically lucky, or the rich who can afford medical treatment. Here in the US, we've already legally established that knowingly spreading fatal diseases is criminal behavior (see for ex the cases on spreading AIDS). Who speaks for the dead & the vulnerable and who prevents the spread of these diseases, if not the gov? That is not to say that the best solution is vax.
Knowingly spreading HIV is not a felony in California, as it's no longer a death sentence and is not considered just a long-term illness.
There's something entirely different between people who intentionally spread diseases and treating *every person in the country* as someone who has a deadly disease. Therein lies the problem.
Key there is HIV is no longer a death sentence. Covid is still a death sentence for many.
When the frequency of positives is as high as it is, its a statistical problem to decide how many untested positives there are and how far the spread is with each variant. The NY/NJ/CT govs went thru all those explanations early on, as they explained the 'gather in groups below X number' requests. At some point in positivity numbers, we don't treat 'every person in the country' as if they were positive. For ex, last May the numbers here were so low that masking wasn't required in public indoor spaces...but people chose to mask as soon as they saw (or heard) the unvaxxed and the obviously ill w/respiratory something come in to the shared contained space. No need to roll the dice, until the disease is no longer a death sentence. In the meantime, some people are doing what they can to reduce personal risk -- getting weight back into the normal zone, getting off metformin, not doing long contacts, etc. Once there is a medication that can keep people with no comorbidities out of the ICU, we'll see different public health solutions for infection control. You've probably seen this at school...around here vaxxed kids who acquire measles are in attendance, with distancing...measles is a danger to unvaxxed, not vaxxed , so the rules of quarantine have changed.
So I don't believe the Europeans are treating 'every person in the country' as someone who has a deadly disease...2G, 2G+, 3G seem to be sorting the population into risk groups. That's combined with KN95 masking for most, as well as limiting group size based on local spread numbers. Add in free testing and it gets easier to not assume everyone is infected.
The US is just now offering free testing outside of major cities. No pooled tests, nothing available but individual testing outside of a few universities like UIUC. People do not have the deep pockets to pay a provider $100 for testing or the authorization for testing. They just go about their business, rolling the dice. Contrast that with countries where free testing is available on a walk in basis and/or rapid tests can be picked up at the grocery store for less than 3 euro.
Covid is a death sentence for a very small percentage of the few who get it. Help those at risk, leave me alone.
Do you have numbers for that pool? The large group at risk for 'long covid', ICU, and death are the overweight, obese, and Type 2 diabetics. In the US, that's not a small percentage of the population. Our govt does not seem to have secured enough meds to effectively treat them all should they drop masking and distancing. Doesn't have enough beds either, which of course means people who have other medical needs are not being treated.
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