New rules while new virus variants arrive
While François Legault lifts some of the pandemic measures, federal public health honcha Theresa Tam worries about the new coronavirus variants that have just arrived here but haven’t yet propagated widely.
It feels sometimes like Legault can’t stand it, just when numbers are starting to look a little more hopeful he feels an itch to back off on the rules and give the virus another chance to spread.
Update: Wednesday morning it seems some epidemiologists agree with me.
Raymond Lutz 09:06 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
Ne lisez pas cet article, l’incompétence de nos gouvernements (provincial et fédéral) vous révoltera.
The Virus Changed. Now We Must ‘Get to Zero’ or Face Catastrophe Half measures haven’t worked. It’s time to beat the virus the way other places have done.
Kate 09:57 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
Legault is keenly aware of what he thinks he can get away with politically, especially because his support is all outside Montreal. He has to throw a bone to the regions, while throwing the city under the bus.
maggie rose 13:35 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
Thanks for pointing to Andrew Nikiforuk’s article, Raymond Lutz. More of us need to be getting info from people like him, who has won awards for his books and articles on epidemics.
As for the Covid variant B117 that he is warning us about – we are in a world of trouble here, considering the way the clowns in power have reacted at every turn for a year now.
For citizens there’s been a lot of info to sort through about Covid for months now. I happen to like to do a lot of reading and sorting in my mind. I’ve seen mention of Getting to Zero in my travels a lot, but this article explains it in a way that is clear, while maintaining the urgency. The quotes he offers from actual relevant experts are dire. I think it’s time for leaders to listen to the people, if we would only speak up. There is no hope with Legault. We need to be louder and more numerous. And like with Nikiforuk’s tone, it wouldn’t hurt to allow ourselves to show our appropriate anger towards the idiots running the show. This variant is swift.
DeWolf 14:07 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
I appreciate the urgency of the situation and agree that getting to zero cases is the right approach. But Andrew Nikiforuk is leaving important facts behind in his polemic. In particular he suggests that the vaccines are essentially useless because they cannot be administered fast enough. This particular section is dead wrong:
“Meanwhile Canada’s vaccine campaign is flailing. It can’t end this pandemic by itself, because immunity won’t last as long as the vaccination campaign. And the South African variant can already impair their efficacy.”
The latest data suggests the vaccines offer immunity of at least a year – possibly longer. All the approved vaccines eliminate severe disease (ie death and ICU). And the South African variant impairs their efficacy but not enough to render them ineffective, particularly in the case of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
I get that Nikiforuk is warning against the temptation to throw the doors open because the vaccination campaign is underway. But he doesn’t need to discredit the vaccines in the process of doing so. He’s just feeding the anti-vaxxers.
Mark Côté 15:38 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
No reason for Legault to do anything differently until his popularity drops. Quebec thinks he’s doing just awesome, tied for highest approval rating of premiers in December. His failure of imagination is only matched by Quebec’s populace as a whole. So depressing.
maggie rose 15:53 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
Good points, DeWolf. The reason I mentioned that this pandemic generates so much information is that as much as I want events as they unfold to be explained clearly, the very nature of health and science data is that they are not simple. Nikiforuk could have been more clear about what he meant on that point. Why not add a comment there?
What I took from his article is that the general sloppiness of most provincial leaders in organizing every aspect of the pandemic, including overseeing vaccines, may well mean that any variants that we come to experience here, which may or may not be more severe or vaccine resistant, could easily make it more difficult to track and thus avoid having our lives and life needs upended. And for ever-expanding periods of time.
I myself vaccinate between preferring calm yet accurate experts sharing what they know, and wanting to hear people who are more assertive towards leaders who seem to be good at twiddling their thumbs, and little else.
Dr. Fauci says that the more we let the virus spread, the more it gets a chance to mutate. So yes, vaccines do help. I just wish we had more clear scientific facts given at the Quebec press conferences. It could prevent a lot of stress and anger in citizens. Do they really think they’ll lose support with honesty? Are they that devoid of the ability to communicate? One thing I know is that this virus, and it’s recent off-spring, does not stay in one place on earth. It seeks out hosts 24/7 and loves to travel to do it.
DeWolf 16:21 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
I won’t disagree with you there!
dwgs 21:09 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
maggie rose, it was probably just autocorrect but I’m amused at the thought of your fingers overriding your brain and typing ‘vaccinate’ in place of ‘vacillate’.
maggie rose 21:44 on 2021-02-03 Permalink
LOL, indeed dwgs!I think it was the dreaded auto thingy. The irony. There must be a word that describes two verbs so close in spelling with no connection.