Most people who read Listen up! will know that I feel very strongly that as many people as possible should get fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. I haven’t changed my mind about that or about my belief that the overwhelming abundance of scientific evidence points to the necessity of vaccinations to bring this current pandemic under control.
Nor have I moved from my opinion that those who can get vaccinated and choose not to need to accept the consequences related to keeping other people safe.
But there is a line to be drawn in how we go about that.
That line to me is the growing movement toward requiring mandatory vaccinations. Mandatory is just a softer word for forced vaccinations. The prime minister has all but said we should be heading in that direction and his Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, carefully ducking responsibility on behalf the feds, has encouraged the provinces to consider mandatory vaccinations.
As well, Quebec is making strong noises in that direction, as are other countries including France. Even the editorial in Sunday’s Toronto Star, entitled “Time to raise the price for those who still won’t get vaxxed”, envisioned tougher measures such as mandatory vaccines.
As I have said in previous articles I have written about the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations, I do not agree with mandatory vaccinations. It is a step too far. While I have serious concerns about people who refuse to protect themselves and others from a virulent virus, or believe it doesn’t exist, forcing it upon them is not in my view an option. I just cannot go there.
While I know there will be disagreement, I believe we have a fundamental human right to decide what goes on in our body. You cannot pick and choose about that. Our choices may be poor and indeed dangerous, but within the law we have that right.
To be clear, while I believe we have that right, we do not have the right to adversely affect the lives of others because of decisions we make for ourselves. That is why people who can get vaccinated and choose not to must be prepared for consequences, such as limited access to public facilities in the greater public interest, as long as the pandemic is active.
To me, there is something repugnant about forced vaccinations. Somehow, to me, it smacks of totalitarianism. I understand and fully agree with the need to require full vaccinations for people who work in frontline health positions or for people who want to travel or frequent public places. But that allows people the freedom to make those choices without being subjected to forced vaccinations. In my view, there is a distinct difference.
There is another reason to avoid mandatory vaccinations at this point in the COVID-19 pandemic and that is because it is too late. In spite of a surge of infections from the Omicron variant, many signs point to a lessening of its virulence and thus the possibility that the virus itself is heading toward its best-before date. The majority of those who get really sick from the Omicron variant are the unvaccinated. The majority of those who are vaccinated and do become infected have a significantly reduced reaction. I question whether at this point in the pandemic mandatory vaccinations will have any real effect.
For all sorts of reasons, many people are on edge right now. They are tired of the pandemic. They are sick of the restrictions, they are upset at divisions within their own families, and parents desperately want their children back in school. All of that, and the underlying festering frustration and anger that results, is understandable.
But as long as there are signs that we are coming through this pandemic, let’s not up the ante. Forcing COVID-19 vaccinations on those who strongly oppose them will not be accepted lightly and it will allow extremists, whether they are anti-vaxxers or not, a platform to promote civil unrest to a greater degree than we have already seen. It will also be very hard and unpleasant to enforce. We simply don’t need that now.
To those who think I am getting soft on these issues: I am not. I will continue to use whatever means are at my disposal to urge people to get vaccinated for the coronavirus and its variants, to get the booster, and to get future vaccines when they come along as they inevitably will when the virus mutates. I will also continue to be skeptical of the conspiracy theories and puzzled by the rationale of those that can get vaccinated and just won’t. Further, I continue to believe that this virus will only be effectively contained when there is no place for it to reproduce; vaccinations go a long way to bringing that about.
As in all things, though, it is important to not let the pendulum swing too far, and in my view, at this juncture of the pandemic, a mandatory vaccine policy would do just that. However long it has taken us to get where we are today, whomever we want to blame, and however concerning this latest surge of the Omicron variant is, there is now, by many scientific projections, real light at the end of the tunnel.
This is not a time for overreaction or a time to foster avoidable confrontation. Rather, it is a time to be vigilant and careful, a time to get our kids back in school, and a time to work toward a permanent new normal. It is a time for hope and moving forward.
Let’s not blow that.
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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My only question about unvaccinated people is why?
They stand a greater chance of catching, being hospitalized and dying from the virus!
It is their right to refuse being vaccinated!
Why are the unvaccinated willing to commit suicide???
Maybe I have missed something??
Jody Cecile; I very much agree with your thoughts and ideas. However, education has been available through qualified health professionals (e.g. doctors, public health nurses, etc.) and at a very basic level of understanding. We are dealing with many human emotions (fear, anxiety, anger, learned helplessness) and belief systems. I agree with the notion that there is demonstrated a “digging-in of one’s heals” by those choosing not to be vaccinated.
Accommodating and talking to these folks more does not seem to persuade them to seek accurate information or be encouraged to care for self and others.. So much damage has been done by those seeking to interpret the pandemic and responses as political or religious – as an attack on individual human rights. Completely off the radar is the concept of the common good in being a responsible contributor to our shared public community.
I am sure Mr. Mackenzie would agree that there is time for the “carrot” and time for the “stick”. That philosophy is certainly within the business world of productivity and one with which he should be familiar in his past political career.
Clearly, for me, the essential bottom line is all our healthcare workers, our healthcare system. In my opinion, the DF Conservatives do not value our healthcare system and human resources any more than they do teachers. Public spending is an anathema (abhorrent),they hate taxes, and slavishly believe that for-profit sector is ethical and superior to much else. I applaud fiscal responsibility and accountability -both in financial management and the More important Human Resource sustainability.
(if we don’t have people health, we don’t have a business; if we don’t have supported health care workers/professionals, we don’t have a healthcare system)
Substantial new efforts must be used to move people towards the best health benefits of our communities.
Time for the “stick” approach, “carrots” are not working.
Thankyou, to Bob and Patrick for explaining the statistics behind the numbers we are seeing. Many of the anti-vaxxers that I have spoken with and have tried to explain these numbers to, don’t understand statistics. They only see the number of vaccinated and unvaccinated in hospital but don’t take into account the variation in the percent vaccinated and unvaccinated. Also my experience has been that the anti-vaxxers say because the new variant is not responding as well to the vaccines that “they don’t work” and why is a booster is necessary. A lot don’t seem to understand how immunity works. I truly believe if we could somehow present this information through the media in an unbiased way some of these nonbelievers would change their minds about vaccination. Of course there will always be those that won’t change their minds but a little nudge like what is being done in Quebec might just do the trick!
Mr. Vowels, if you are looking for “great odds for getting vaccinated”, I suggest you look critically at the online Dashboard that is updated daily by the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. It can be found at
https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/ontario-dashboard/
According to today’s data, the rate of COVID-19 Hospital Occupancy per million was 841.8 for unvaccinated people and 181.4 for people vaccinated with at least 2 doses.
The rate of COVID-19 ICU Occupancy per million was 204.8 for unvaccinated people and 19.6 for people vaccinated with at least 2 doses.
So the reduction associated with at least 2 doses was 78.5% for hospitalization and 90.4% for going to the ICU. Those look to me like “great odds for getting vaccinated”.
Ray you seem to not understand how statistics work. Around 80% of our population is vaccinated with at least 2 doses. So if the vaccine didn’t work you would expect to see 80% vaccinated people infected, in hospital and ICU. Since all of those categories they are well below 80% that shows it is working
BRAVO Quebec! Thanks for your strong support of health care and human resources, at least in one province! Thanks for the insight to realize that such a temporary measure, used as a COVID- defeating strategy, expresses the will of many people.
Mr. Vowels, the unvaccinated continue to be hospitalized with COVID, taking up vital spaces for the treatment and care of people with other illnesses. The longer COVID and its variances flourish in our world/communities, the more chances the virus will infect/re-infect, even those already vaccinated. That is the best I can explain for you. We are Not at the safest level of vaccination and immunization that we Could Be. When we decide as a population to accept that responsibility, then each will be doing all we can.
All I see on here is people saying vaccination should be mandatory. But no looks at the stats about hospitalizations. So I looked at the report from yesterday 3448 people in hospital of that 47.42 % are unvaccinated that means 53% are fully vaccinated most with even a one booster. Now they link all three categories to make up the 47.42% that is unvaccinated one shot vaccinated or unknown whatever that is. Now go to the ICU numbers 505 people 66% are unvaccinated one shot vaccinated or unknown status still no idea what that is. This leaves 33% fully vaccinated and maybe even one booster in ICU. That is not what I would call real great odds for getting vaccinated, By the way I’m not against getting vaccinated I just think we should be able to decide just what is shot into our body. And if you say vaccines have been around for years your right but they all were tested for years before they were approved for the public if you don’t believe me look it up
I must say I agree with the majority of the comments made here and commend, Anna-Lise Kear, Barb Foster, Tami and Brian and others for their thoughtful and intelligent contribution.
The problem as I see it, is twofold. Firstly, Doppler you have an opportunity with this publication to not only offer opinion but try to educate the anti-vaxxers. Many do not understand the statistics as reported in the news and on government websites. They cherry pick numbers to validate their ant-vax status. With a forum like Doppler you could publish accurate statistics and information regularly, in a way that the average person can understand. Secondly, I believe that mandated vaccine is necessary in many sectors and by restricting privileges this can be done effectively. Doug Ford has an opportunity here, to lead us out of this pandemic by making tough decisions. He should do the right thing and take a tougher stance on the anti-vaxxers, for the betterment of the hospitals, schools and community at large. Tough times take strong leaders!
Mr. Mackenzie; I wouldn’t worry about DF moving to charge a health tax on the unvaccinated if I were you.
DF’s performance has demonstrated that he hasn’t got the courage or the political will to do so. After all, large for-profit LTC homes have gone without financial penalties for their repeated violations, and he reduced comprehensive inspections as soon as taking office. So, why would he treat anti-vaxxers with any penalties or consequences? The Conservatives are into accommodations for those who choose not to be vaccinated.
Nice words Hugh. Spoken like a true politician.
In favour of vaccination….acknowledging the critical importance of vaccination…yet opposing mandatory vaccination. While we debate and “respect” the hold-outs, hospitals are being overwhelmed with (mostly) unvaccinated Covid patients….and critical, life-saving procedures need to be postponed. People not part of the debate are being needlessly punished.
“Mandatory” does NOT mean “forced” ! No one is going to drag anyone into a vaccination clinic by force. “Mandatory vaccination” means you must be vaccinated in order to interact within your community,…. under these temporarily trying conditions. One can choose not to !…like you can still choose not to get vaccinated….and adapt to the consequences (In the interest of employee safety, employers can choose not have unvaccinated people working among them.)
It’s noteworthy, that right after Quebec announced that you need to be fully vaccinated to access liquor stores or Pot Shops the demand for vaccinations increased dramatically ! …so much for conviction and moral indignation.
Although frustrating, because we’ve been at it for over a year now, I’m still in favour of continuing to try nudge the truly conflicted anti’s into accepting the actual facts, urging them to search their conscience and accepting a social responsibility by doing the right thing… The smaller number of “hardcore” ? Well, when they do need care, hopefully there will be spare capacity.
True, the pandemic will end one way or another no matter what we do. However, we have a proven means to mitigate the suffering. Mandatory vaccinations will help keep people out of hospital. We shouldn’t have to keep crippling the economy or our health care system, because a significant group is failing in their social responsibility and facilitating the crisis.
I totally agree with Hugh. Today the Quebec gov’t has announced a “substantial” monetary fine for the unvaccinated. BIG MISTAKE. I think this tactic will precede some really serious rebellion. What some don’t understand is the some unvaccinated are not just being stubborn, they deeply believe the vaccine is unproven and can be dangerous. I completely believe in vaccination but mandatory is NOT the way to go.
I suppose we all have some kind of right to be stupid but do we really need to exercise it?
Does the vaccine cost you anything… no, it’s free.
Does it help protect you,… yes, 70 to 90 % of the time, that is pretty good if you think about it. Even if you do get the virus it has been demonstrated that the vaccine will make it less damaging on you.
Does it have serious detrimental side effects… not really. Less than 1%.
The other thing it does is help all your friends and neighbors live an easier, longer and nicer life as they are not so threatened by high virus load in their environment.
So why not just get a vaccination? I can’t think of a single reason not to and not only that, as many other commenters have noted there are many things in our society that are already mandatory, have been for years and usually for the good of the majority. This is no different.
I suppose if you lived on a deserted island by yourself, you could reasonably expect to be able to do anything you could and want to do. Your not going to affect anybody else. However if you like driving on shared roads, shopping, flying off on holidays and receiving health care when you need it then you kind of have to give a care about the people around you, that is a “responsibility” and you don’t get “rights” without some “responsibility”, they go hand in hand together.
First, I support the comments of Anna-Lise, BJ, Barbara, and Tami.
In my opinion, it is all very fine and good to to say that we should have a right to refuse the vaccine. So far, we do. However, I’ll believe and trust in the wisdom of the science community/the infectious disease specialists who are pleading with people to get vaccinated; it is our best course of action. Really, can they all be wrong?
Millions of people have died. Many who contracted Covid 19 are ‘long haulers’. Our health care system and other countries’ health care systems are dangerously close to collapsing. I’m sure everyone knows of someone who has had a surgery or procedure postponed because health care workers are overwhelmed and overburdened with hospitalized Covid cases. Businesses are going under. There are staff shortages everywhere. Many more people, including children, are suffering from poor mental health.
We do not have the luxury of hoping to gain natural immunity.
My goodness: National Post: Anthony Furey- “Time to end our ‘warped risk perception’ of COVID”, published today. I shake my head in wonder. Is this just someone who needs to rant? Is this just someone who needs some important personal therapy and hasn’t yet sought the same? Is this someone who displays ignorance of public health science? Where is this nonsense and singular point of view coming from? Other than to detract from reality?
My best guess is that Anthony Furey (whose bio clip is not published with the article) has one segment of the population in mind and it isn’t the vulnerable (elderly people, young children, people with immunocompromised illnesses, people doing without treatments and surgeries, and people with disabilities).
What can one possibly say to such shallowness? Probably nothing.
However, we can critically examine and filter the underlying assumptions made by this individual before swallowing hook, line, and sinker. As we should with all media.
Thanks for reading.
I must say that I support the comments of Anna-Lise, BJ, and Barbara. Vaccinations have been required in the name of public health for quite some time now. This is no different. Indeed, it is much worse! The world is on fire with this pandemic and action is required!
There are things that we do in order to participate in public life. In 2022, being vaccinated and boosted is one of those things. We do it to protect each other, small children who cannot be vaccinated, immunocompromised individuals, our fragile healthcare system and those who work tirelessly for us on the front lines. Those who work in the service industry and keep our retail establishments open for business. To keep our children well and in school, and those who care for them and teach them healthy and safe. Heaven forfend that someone who is seriously ill or in a major accident cannot receive life saving care because the healthcare system is overwhelmed by those who refuse to do their part and get the jab!
I have no problem with showing my vaccinated status in order to enter public spaces. All of that information is already in the computer when I go in to see my pharmacist. Anyone who has a problem with doing the right thing can stay home. That is the very definition of freedom of choice.
At this point in the pandemic, the important numbers to follow are the number of hospitalizations and ICU admissions. Most admissions to hospitals are unvaccinated people. Yes, some fully vaccinated people may still get Covid but most will not need to be hospitalized. Our hospitals are overflowing ,there is not enough staff to properly care for patients. Sadly surgeries and procedures have had to be cancelled again due to lack of beds and staff and people are becoming sicker as they wait for treatment. Open your eyes!
For your interest, just attended an RNAO webinar, with over 200 participants by ZOOM.
Key Points:
1] the DF Conservative government made no moves early on to create a sense of community in fighting the viral pandemic, splitting of society could have been better mitigated (not new)
2] recommendations continue to be made to protect our health care system, especially our precious human resources – which call for scaling back to Step 1 controls and rescinding/appealing Bill 134 for at least the purposes of healthcare worker retention
3] follow Quebec’s lead in using 3-dose vaccine passports (and continue to update as additional boosters are given), to be shown Everywhere one goes
4] follow Quebec’s lead in announcing that if not vaccinated, stay home
5] mandatory vaccinations for all educators & teachers have not received N 95 masks for classroom wear
6] it is not about the “me” of nations, but rather the “we” of nations in providing vaccines (the for-profits, such as Pfizer is deaf to sharing with have-not countries, yet receiving +++ in public money).
How bad is it? Nurses are carrying 2-3 X normal workloads, not only in ICUs, but hospitals (ratios of 1: 12 pts up to 1: 16 pts), and home care. Nurse colleagues are dropping like flies with exhaustion. Nurses are leaving in the following ways, but not necessarily in the following order:
1) quitting hospital and home care to take agency work (where they receive better pay and have more control over the number of hours they work). Leaving our publicly funded system for the for-profit outfits (there is method in this madness).
2) Moving to the US for better pay.
3) Quitting altogether.
4) Going on more long-term sick leave.
A recent example in Ontario healthcare: In Toronto, no ambulance availability due to cuts and paramedics sick. 2 ER nurses for 36 patients! Nurses and healthcare workers are being asked to function beyond what human beings can do.
My ongoing conclusion: there has been underfunding for years And this current DF Conservative government (health, education) continues to act too late and too slowly!
So, debate what you will about non-mandatory vaccinations – there are some dire and immediate consequences to this inaction.
Wearing a seat belt when traveling in a personal vehicle on public roads is mandatory.
Having one’s vehicle properly insured is mandatory if one wishes to use it for traversing public roads, water, or airways.
Observing “no hunting” seasons is mandatory.
Declaring and paying revenue taxes is mandatory (except in cases of big corporations with accounts in offshore tax havens).
Registering some firearms is mandatory.
Etc., etc., etc.
Not harming or placing people or animals in harm’s way, either wilfully or by negligence, is mandated by law.
Mandating vaccination of the population comes within this last law.
BJ
Mr. Mackenzie; at present, on a micro scale, we are not getting through this pandemic, we are merely moving to the stage of viral endemic and the consequences associated with this development/evolution.
At a financial level only- by all means avoid declaring mandatory vaccinations. One of the costs for this is to fiscally increase support for a very, very, abused, and degraded health care system for a Much Longer period of time. Are Conservatives and taxpayers willing to take on that additional price? Just a question.
For the “accommodations” E.O’T is seeking for all unvaccinated people – will the taxpayer foot that cost or will individuals who are accommodated be required to pay for ongoing testing because they choose not to be vaccinated?
As we all know, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. There are consequences for non-mandatory vaccination.
I do agree with Hugh on the fact that there is no place in this country for mandatory anything to do with a person’s health. What I don’t agree with is his unrelenting saying we all should be getting vaxxed and if we don’t we are the problem. With over 10.000 double vaxxed people testing positive every day now and about 2500 unvaxxed testing positive I fail to see his reasoning that being vaccinated is the way to go. We were doing not bad until the people who were double vaxxed were able to go and do whatever they liked without a thought that they might be spreading the virus. I do the very same things now that I have done for the last two years without getting sick I shop at 7 am and do not go anyplace where there is a crowd. 7 am until 8am is supposed to be seniors hour but it seems there are an awful lot of young looking seniors around these days. The way things are going right now I’m a lot more worried about getting infected by a person who is vaxxed than I am about anyone that is unvaxxed.