Community News

GET TOUGH WITH THE UNVACCINATED

The public has become fed up with individuals who repeatedly refuse to get vaccinated and with governments and organizations that continually make excuses or accommodate them.

After nearly two years of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and patiently coddling unvaccinated individuals, public officials and those 90 per cent of Ontario residents who have been vaccinated have become accepting of the government to impose stricter restrictions on unvaccinated individuals.

An Angus Reid poll in late 2021 revealed there is little sympathy for the unvaccinated. About 70 per cent of respondents believe airline employees, school teachers, first responders and medical professionals should be fired if they refuse to get vaccinated.

The Omicron wave has only emphasized the expediency required to get the entire public vaccinated. Hospitals are overwhelmed with critically ill patients, the majority of whom are unvaccinated. Unvaccinated patients are more likely to have severe cases of COVID-19.

In Canada the unvaccinated make up less than 13 per cent of the population, but that is still nearly half a million people.

The frustration surrounding those people who refuse to get vaccinated - either due to conspiracy theories, religious belief, or some form of libertarian attitude - is forcing governments to take stronger action to follow health and safety protocols for the rest of the community.

Hamilton last week approved a change to its employee vaccination policy requiring all staff to be vaccinated with at least two doses by the end of May. If not, the city will terminate employees who are not vaccinated by June. There are 474 employees who have been undergoing regular testing and 63 staffers who refuse to get tested and have been placed on unpaid leave.

Hamilton's get tough attitude with its employees is following other municipalities - after Ontario ignored the issue and left it to cities and towns to take action that have given up soft-peddling the vaccination pitch and have decided a tougher tone is need. The City of Toronto fired 461 employees in January who refused to get vaccinated, while Oakville fired 12.

But governments are finally seriously considering ramping up the controls to get people vaccinated. At the forefront is Quebec Premier Francois Legault when he announced unvaccinated people would be required to pay a tax for the health care they receive.

This isn't just a Canadian phenomenon. With Europe expecting to be overwhelmed with the Omicron variant, various countries are also placing restrictions on the unvaccinated.

The pandemic is not over. There's a sizable number of people who are wishing it to be gone and are living in a post-pandemic lifestyle without regard for their friends, neighbours or even family members. But to live in a community is to also respect and abide by certain laws because not to do so will result in a devolution into chaos and barbarism.

Getting people vaccinated is our one best hope to return to a time when the community can accept COVID-19 and live out our lives with it.

OPINION EDITORIAL

en-ca

2022-01-20T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-20T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281535114363316

Metroland Media Group Ltd.