Thread by @jvipondmd

A short tweet thread on the current goings-on in Alberta. 1/

It seemed clear way way back in December, when the messaging from the gov't was: 1)Omicron is mild, and 2) Everyone is going to get it, that the removal of all protections was imminent, in the hunt for (mythical) herd immunity reuters.com/business/healt… 2/

It was precisely this that made me dub this the #weararespirtorwave, because it was clear that the gov't was no longer interested in protecting people, + we'd have to up our "individual responsibility" to make up for their lack of gov't responsibility. 3/

But it is really important for people to know that with public health, like many things (say, airports, or roads, or hospitals), effectiveness is much much better through collective action rather than individual action. Indeed, it is why we built a society and governments. 4/

So with the removal of protections, the vast majority of us will be OK(ish). BECAUSE MOST AREN'T VULNERABLE. Most are of the correct demographic, are vaccinated, are healthy. Bully for us (them actually, as I have a significant comorbidity). 5/

Who is vulnerable? the unvaccinated, which include 266,515 kids under the age of 5 who literally can't get vaccinated. The medically fragile. and the aged. They are absolutely dependent on society to protect them. and we are failing them. alberta.ca/stats/covid-19… 6/

Saying everyone is going to get it, is like putting them on a roulette wheel of death, severe illness, and long term disability. For example, with 125000+ Albertans >80 years old, and knowing even triple vaxxed is not a guarantee of safety, that's a lot of death and damage. 7/

So what's to be done? I don't think @jkenney will just capitulate and say "oops too soon". At least not before much more horror befalls us. Hopefully some brave organizations will take on some legal actions to protect protections. 8/

Institutions (like schools, universities, municpalities and corporations) still have a duty to protect employees and students. They can start by keeping their own mandates, both vaxx passport (and consider increasing requirement to 3 doses) and mask. 9/

Next: COVID is spread by airborne transmission. Acknowledge that. Act on that. Improve ventilation and filtration. Encourage respirator mask use (no they aren't uncomfortable/expensive/dangerous/hard to get). Consider purchasing some for staff/students 10/

This is going to be a tough period for Albertans, with no clear path to safety (save an election). Be kind to each other. Care for each other. At a time when institutions are being tested, make sure your institution steps up. At a time where bravery is needed, be brave. 11/

So sorry it has come to this. fin/

credit to @amandalhu for the image! (it's soooo good). A riff on this.

Addendum: Embarrassed to say I forgot to mention Long COVID since our political leaders SEEM TO ALWAYS FORGET TO MENTION LONGCOVID. add.1/2

with up to 10% of kids, and 30% of adults getting prolonged symptoms, irrespective of severity of illness, if we let everyone get it, this seems a big deal. And we should be talking about this. add 2/2 ctvnews.ca/health/coronav…