The COVID-19 pandemic

[danbrotherston]

And looks like vaccine passports are gone.

Because our government is pathetic and run by those who pander to extremist anti-vaxxers.

[jeffster]

And looks like vaccine passports are gone.

Because our government is pathetic and run by those who pander to extremist anti-vaxxers.

To be honest, I think the passports were useless. We had them, used them, and still got a lockdown out of it. The virus still spread among vaccinated people. False sense of safety is all that it was, nothing more.

At least now indigenous and minorities that feared government can go on with their lives. As for the true anti-vax folks that you're referring to; I don't see it useful keeping mandates to 'show 'em' who's in charge.

Remember, most cases are still spread among family members. Not a places were we were showing our passport.

[plam]

And looks like vaccine passports are gone.

Because our government is pathetic and run by those who pander to extremist anti-vaxxers.

I don't like it, but one could argue that we have reached enough of the population already.

It would really be much better to get to 95% of 12+ though. NZ is at 95% of 12+ two doses, 96% one dose, and 45% of 12+ boosted (though boosts are only available for 18+).

Ontario is 90% of 12+ with 2 doses and 92% with 1 dose, and 6.7M with boosters. I've calculated the booster rate before, but they don't make it easy.

[danbrotherston]

And looks like vaccine passports are gone.

Because our government is pathetic and run by those who pander to extremist anti-vaxxers.

I don't like it, but one could argue that we have reached enough of the population already.

It would really be much better to get to 95% of 12+ though. NZ is at 95% of 12+ two doses, 96% one dose, and 45% of 12+ boosted (though boosts are only available for 18+).

Ontario is 90% of 12+ with 2 doses and 92% with 1 dose, and 6.7M with boosters. I've calculated the booster rate before, but they don't make it easy.

Then there's no reason to remove the restriction...

But the worst part of removing it is it appears to be caving to the violent assholes in Ottawa.

[danbrotherston]

And looks like vaccine passports are gone.

Because our government is pathetic and run by those who pander to extremist anti-vaxxers.

To be honest, I think the passports were useless. We had them, used them, and still got a lockdown out of it. The virus still spread among vaccinated people. False sense of safety is all that it was, nothing more.

At least now indigenous and minorities that feared government can go on with their lives. As for the true anti-vax folks that you're referring to; I don't see it useful keeping mandates to 'show 'em' who's in charge.

Remember, most cases are still spread among family members. Not a places were we were showing our passport.

The virus spread much slower among vaccinated people....

Well, I won't be going to any restaurants anymore. I have health conditions, and an unvaccinated child, so I guess I'll again be the one who gets fucked over.

I'm so done with this.

[jamincan]

I don't like it, but one could argue that we have reached enough of the population already.

It would really be much better to get to 95% of 12+ though. NZ is at 95% of 12+ two doses, 96% one dose, and 45% of 12+ boosted (though boosts are only available for 18+).

Ontario is 90% of 12+ with 2 doses and 92% with 1 dose, and 6.7M with boosters. I've calculated the booster rate before, but they don't make it easy.

Then there's no reason to remove the restriction...

But the worst part of removing it is it appears to be caving to the violent assholes in Ottawa.

This was almost certainly in the cards before the trucker convoy ever set off. I also don't think it's going to make any difference to the convoy protestors who have stuck it out for three weeks now - those protestors in particular have less of a grievance with the specific public health measures and more of a grievance with Trudeau specifically who they despise with a ferocity that likely exceeds my disdain for Trump.

[danbrotherston]

Then there's no reason to remove the restriction...

But the worst part of removing it is it appears to be caving to the violent assholes in Ottawa.

This was almost certainly in the cards before the trucker convoy ever set off. I also don't think it's going to make any difference to the convoy protestors who have stuck it out for three weeks now - those protestors in particular have less of a grievance with the specific public health measures and more of a grievance with Trudeau specifically who they despise with a ferocity that likely exceeds my disdain for Trump.

I mean, that is why used the word "appears". Yes, maybe they are mostly racist anti-government trash, but they were hiding under an "anti-mandate" message, and the media obliged them that hiding place.

I don't know that it was in the cards, but it was only 4 days ago they said they had no plans to change the mandates.

Now is this government erratic and poorly organized, yes. Could this have happened anyway? Also yes.

Frankly, the timing is suspect though.

FWIW....I do think the timing is actually pessimal for DoFo. No matter what his anti-vaxxer daughter tells him, these people are a minority, and he waited long enough that they are utterly despised throughout the province, so caving to them, whether in appearance only or in actuality is going to be bad for his career.  It's the only silver lining I see.

[jamincan]

Doug Ford has a teflon, non-stick coating; he'll come out of this just fine.

[ac3r]

We'll have to see what happens with him in June. No matter what he does, he continues to poll well indeed. The right vote will see a bit of a split in June with the Ontario Party, Ontario First and New Blue parties now standing as contenders but unlike the PPC, those parties aren't as popular so they may not siphon off that many votes. The Liberals may have dug their own grave over the last couple weeks due to the protests. The NDP never go anywhere - especially with Andrea Horwath at the controls. And The Greens, well, they stand as much of chance as the Rhinoceros Party at winning.

A lot can change over the next couple months, but politics in this country rarely veers out of its lane so it'll probably be the usual Red versus Blue. Which really sucks because I despise both of those parties.

[tomh009]

And looks like vaccine passports are gone.

Because our government is pathetic and run by those who pander to extremist anti-vaxxers.

To be honest, I think the passports were useless. We had them, used them, and still got a lockdown out of it. The virus still spread among vaccinated people. False sense of safety is all that it was, nothing more.

Your criterion is incorrect. The passports were useful, because they encouraged more people to get a shot, and got our overall vaccination rates up.

It's kind of like the LRT: don't measure its success by the number of passengers but, rather, the amount of intensification it has spurred.

[jeffster]

To be honest, I think the passports were useless. We had them, used them, and still got a lockdown out of it. The virus still spread among vaccinated people. False sense of safety is all that it was, nothing more.

Your criterion is incorrect. The passports were useful, because they encouraged more people to get a shot, and got our overall vaccination rates up.

It's kind of like the LRT: don't measure its success by the number of passengers but, rather, the amount of intensification it has spurred.

You're right, and I had mentioned that in another post to Dan that I failed to submit (on a different computer). It did get more people to vaccinate, at least as an incentive, but I think we've reached the maximum that we'll get.

[jeffster]

Current 7-day Covid-19 cases per 100k

• Northwestern Health Unit 529.2
• Porcupine Health Unit 384.7
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit 372.1
• Algoma Public Health 310.2
• Public Health Sudbury & Districts 261.3
• Lambton Public Health 219.9
• Chatham-Kent Public Health 205.0
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health 187.5
• Timiskaming Health Unit 183.5
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit 176.1
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 175.7
• Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit 168.3
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit 163.6
• Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit 163.0
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit 152.8
• Niagara Region Public Health 144.1
• Middlesex-London Health Unit 137.9
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 133.5
• Eastern Ontario Health Unit 132.7
• Grey Bruce Health Unit 121.8
• Southwestern Public Health 120.6
• Huron Perth Public Health 118.8
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 113.7
• Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit 112.2
• Ottawa Public Health 110.8
• Peterborough Public Health 102.7
• Durham Region Health Department 101.3
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 97.5

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 95.8

• Peel Public Health 95.0
• Brant County Health Unit 90.8
• Toronto Public Health 86.4
• Halton Region Public Health 85.1
• York Region Public Health 73.3

• TOTAL ONTARIO 120.0

[jeffster]

To be honest, I think the passports were useless. We had them, used them, and still got a lockdown out of it. The virus still spread among vaccinated people. False sense of safety is all that it was, nothing more.

At least now indigenous and minorities that feared government can go on with their lives. As for the true anti-vax folks that you're referring to; I don't see it useful keeping mandates to 'show 'em' who's in charge.

Remember, most cases are still spread among family members. Not a places were we were showing our passport.

The virus spread much slower among vaccinated people....

Well, I won't be going to any restaurants anymore. I have health conditions, and an unvaccinated child, so I guess I'll again be the one who gets fucked over.

I'm so done with this.

I doubt I can convince you to continue going to restaurant, but, hear me out. The potential for an infected person coming into a restaurant is still higher if they are vaccinated rather than not. That's because the infection rates aren't different enough so that by volume, you'd have more infections among unvaccinated in a restaurant. As regards to your child, many children are unvaccinated -- I don't see how this would make a difference for you.

Remember too the mask mandate is still on. Get yourselves N95's.

And I am with you, I am done with this as well. But I think we might be done in a different context. 2 years in, we need to learn to live with this virus, otherwise we'll never move on. The Spanish flu this is not.

[bravado]

And looks like vaccine passports are gone.

Because our government is pathetic and run by those who pander to extremist anti-vaxxers.

This statement just gives more fuel to the real wacko anti-vaxx types. The vaccine passport exists to limit spread by keeping the more transmissible people out of enclosed areas. 

Omicron has changed this math and as a result, the passports have outlived their usefulness. Keeping them around protects almost nobody and only makes people more irritated and less compliant with the overall rules.

[jamincan]

I'm of the mind that at this stage, the vaccine passport is no longer effective as a carrot, especially since it isn't used to track booster status where it might have otherwise had a longer life as an incentive for people to get boosted. Outside of that, then, it has to be evaluated in its effectiveness at lowering community spread. With omicron, it would seem to be less useful in that function, although perhaps it has more benefit in higher risk settings like long-term care homes.