Thought of the Day - August 30 2021 - Living with COVID

I find it amazing that people think that the impact of COVID is behind us. In case you have missed a memo:

• Variants have arisen over the past year that makes SARS-CoV-2 much more virulent today than a year ago ( Thought of the Day - July 26 2021 - Delta Implications ). More significantly, with active cases still over the 15M mark across the world, there is no reason to suspect that additional "improved" variants will not continue to arise in the months to come;

• There is no real evidence that COVID vaccines are significant in stopping infection. While viral loads may indeed be lower, unfortunately, the "the vaccinated" are now acting with impunity. Thus, the net effect is infection rates are still high. This is the reason we still see the continued transmission of SARS-CoV-2 ( Thought of the Day - July 27 2021 - What Do Vaccines Do? );

• Herd immunity, if at all possible, must occur only at very high population infection/vaccination levels - 90%+ (for example, the UK claims that 93% of their population, though vaccination and exposure, has COVID antibodies, yet they, along with Israel and others, are still experiencing some of the highest "official" new case rates in the world) ( Thought of the Day - July 25 2021 - By the Numbers );

• It is telling that our government is signing contracts ensuring COVID vaccine supply for years to come ( Thought of the Day - August 16 2021 - Our Federal Vaccine Passport ). Countries like Israel are already moving ahead with a third vaccination;

• There still seems to be limited interest in conducting trials of low-cost treatments (especially antivirals), thus people are still dying in Canada from COVID ( Thought of the Day - August 17 2021 - The Non-Treatment of COVID ).

We have come a long way over the past eighteen months. But, to be fair, the risk to the general public in Canada is no better than it was a year ago. A year ago, at the end of August 2020, we had 1,107 active cases and 28 people in hospital ten of which were in intensive care, today we have 5,657 active cases and 159 in hospital 84 of which are in intensive care here in BC. All that has changed is that we are now numb to the figures.

In addition, we are still pursuing elements of the same three strategies as eighteen months ago: Lock'Em Up, Slow the Burn, and Herd Immunity. And as a consequence, we continue to try to balance the impacts of all three.

I guess what I am really saying is: COVID is still very much with us and we are not about to declare martial law in order to eliminate it. It is now Canada's turn to experience the "Delta Wave" - so let's get ready. Let's get ready to live with it.

Cheers

Cliff