Dear editor,

It鈥檚 time to put some nonsense to rest.

No one is threatening anyone鈥檚 freedom to make their own choice about getting a COVID vaccine. People exercise that freedom every single day that they remain unvaxxed. I鈥檝e yet to hear of anyone being kidnapped, duct-taped to a chair, and getting a jab against their will. When that starts happening, we鈥檒l talk.

Meanwhile, I hope that people will at least have the honesty to consider that their personal, individual choice has wide-ranging, public consequences. A pandemic is never an individual health matter with private solutions.

People are not being denied care at hospitals 鈥渂ecause they鈥檙e unvaccinated.鈥� If people are turned away, it鈥檚 because hospitals are already overwhelmed with COVID patients, the vast majority of whom are unvaccinated. Meanwhile, people who did get vaxxed are also having surgeries cancelled or being denied hospital beds, despite the fact that they have an equal right to medical care. There aren鈥檛 enough resources to meet everyone鈥檚 needs.

There鈥檚 abundant proof of the efficacy and safety of vaccines, freely available in all the media and online for those willing to expose themselves to facts. Consider the fact that billions of us are vaccinated and are doing just fine. Meanwhile, denialists cling to a fringe ideology based on conspiracy theories and pseudoscience.

People with vaccine passports are not getting 鈥渟pecial privileges.鈥� They are accessing a limited number of non-essential services in a way that reduces the risk to public health, an idea that is neither new nor specific to this pandemic.

Passports help to mitigate the unsustainable cycle of rising infections and subsequent lockdowns, which have already resulted in businesses closing, events and activities getting cancelled across the board, and countless people losing their jobs. Still, there are those who insist on their 鈥渞ight鈥� to go anywhere they want to without having to mask, get a vaccine, or limit the number of people with whom they gather, all without a thought for the well-being of others, and with no consequence to themselves.

Now, that鈥檚 what I call a special privilege. If people don鈥檛 want to vaccinate and get a passport, no one will force them. But there are consequences that they鈥檒l need to live with for the sake of public safety, just as there are in countless other situations in everyday life. By the way, a vaccine passport doesn鈥檛 infringe on anyone鈥檚 privacy. It does not disclose someone鈥檚 health status; it merely says that they鈥檝e had a vaccine. There鈥檚 a difference.

This next is for a very special group of people: protesting outside of hospitals or in schools is simply futile, misdirected rage. Yelling at nurses and sending young children into lockdown is undisguised bullying, and ignores the obvious fact that hospital workers and teachers don鈥檛 enact public health legislation. Meanwhile, health care workers are burning out trying to take care of everyone they can under a staggering workload made worse by people鈥檚 refusal to vaccinate. Think about that if you鈥檙e angry just because you can鈥檛 go to a ball game or your favourite sports bar. Take a deep breath and try to cultivate a little perspective. You鈥檙e not a victim.

It鈥檚 easy to say no to masking, distancing, lockdowns, and vaccines, but all that nay-saying contributes nothing to solving any problems. The past 18 months have demonstrated that 鈥渂usiness as usual鈥� doesn鈥檛 work, and 鈥渘atural immunity鈥� is wishful thinking. It鈥檚 unfortunate, but many people seem to think the immune system is a type of force field that stops the virus from entering the body. That鈥檚 not what it does. Anyone, regardless of health status or fitness level, can contract and spread SARS-CoV2, with or without symptoms, just by breathing. Many have already done that without knowing it.

If people still want to reject the current public health measures, then it鈥檚 time they start presenting a better idea for ending the pandemic. If they鈥檝e got a plan, let鈥檚 hear it. Meanwhile, the majority of us will continue to exercise our free and informed choice to follow the guidance set by those who know what they鈥檙e talking about.

Marusha Taylor,

Courtenay