It’s time for the Provincial Government to get serious about freedom.
- Restaurants are operating at limited capacity.
- Artistic and sporting venues are uncertain about what they will be able to do.
- Students are facing online learning or, at best, masked teaching, where they cannot convey their personalities or benefit from their teachers' non-verbal facial communications, not to mention discomfort.
- Parents want their children back in school: safely.
- Many are uncomfortable getting on GO trains, subways, or buses.
- Normal social interactions based on thousands of years of evolution are limited or eliminated: simple gatherings of family and friends are controlled.
- Travel is limited, and borders are closed.
- Tax dollars are being consumed to support closed and partially closed businesses and their laid-off employees.
- Hospitals have a significant backlog of elective procedures, and many people are suffering a reduced quality of life waiting for surgery. Some may even suffer long-term consequences because of delays in medical care.
Before controlling the COVID-19 pandemic was possible, all these measures made sense and were necessary to avoid overloading the hospital system with COVID-19 patients. Essential surgeries were performed and deaths due to lack of hospital space or medical personnel time were contained, thanks to the sacrifices and dedication of our front line care workers.
We face another fall and possibly winter without full art galleries, concert halls, lecture halls, classrooms, and arenas. Our freedoms to socialize with our fellow citizens and enjoy our favourite activities are being curtailed.
These restrictions are for one reason only: those who are eligible to be vaccinated but have not done so.
New variants of the virus, such as Delta, are even more contagious and cause even more severe illness than the first versions. The more unvaccinated people there are, the more these variants can find homes, and paths to other homes. The more they can mutate, to the point where they may become more capable of defeating the vaccines. The more hospitals will be stretched, and the more vulnerable people will die.
Health Canada says that at least 90% of people over 12 need to be vaccinated to stop the virus from spreading and putting hospital capacity at risk again. Yes, some people will still get it, even if vaccinated, but the consequences will be much less for them, and the spread will slow dramatically.
Unless we get there, and quickly, we will continue to live a restricted life, and may even have to go back to the even more limiting restrictions we have all grown so tired of.
The more people who are vaccinated, the less chance we will have to return to lockdowns because of new variants. If you want more information about how this works, here is a comprehensive summary in a no-paywall Sam Harris podcast.
If 90 percent or better of eligible people are vaccinated, it should mean that weddings, graduations, celebrations, concerts, hockey arenas and baseball stadiums, neighbourhood barbecues, travel, and all the social events that bring us together can come back.
Some people believe they have the right to choose whether to be vaccinated. They believe this is an issue of individual liberty. There are always limitations on liberty, but the fundamental one is that your liberty should not impinge on someone else’s. Simply put, your freedom to swing your arm ends at the tip of my nose.
If you are not vaccinated, you are stopping me from attending a crowded hockey game (and, for example, the Oakville Blades from selling tickets) or operating my restaurant to its full capacity. The unvaccinated are impinging on the freedom of the rest of us. A minority is controlling the behaviour of the majority.
How is this different from requiring children to be vaccinated to attend school or compulsory seat belts? We all pay for the hospitalization of those infected, just as we all pay the medical bills of those who are injured in accidents because they didn't buckle up: another reason we all have a say in what choices are left to individuals and which government must legislate.
Nevertheless, we are not advocating mandatory vaccinations. Only that those who choose not to be vaccinated not be allowed to limit the freedoms of those who are vaccinated (or are medically prevented from being), and that the vaccinated be allowed to resume a normal life.
Ontario should immediately introduce proof of vaccination, or a vaccine passport, which would be issued to all who have received two doses of an approved vaccine or have a medical reason not to.
This passport should be required for those over twelve to attend school, college, or university, live in a congregate setting, use public transport, and use any indoor public facility. Private enterprises should be allowed to choose whether to serve those without the passport, provided they signpost clearly that their premises are open to all. Those who do not wish to encounter people without a passport can choose not to enter.
The marketplace will quickly reward those restaurants and retail establishments that clearly state “vaccine passport required for entry”. (We think the Moonshine should have stuck to its guns on this issue.) Grocery stores and other essential services could continue to insist on masks and social distancing, at least until we reach the vaccination level Health Canada says we need to stop the spread.
Vaccine passports would restore freedom to those who have chosen to be vaccinated and so are contributing to controlling the virus. Even better, they would give those who haven’t been vaccinated a solid incentive to reconsider their choice to get the vaccine and protect themselves and their friends and neighbours.
If you agree, write to your MPP, Stephen Crawford if you live South of Upper Middle Road or Effie Triantifilopolous, if you live North of Upper Middle Road, copying the Premier, Doug Ford, and the Minister of Health, Christine Elliott.
