Through the pandemic, we’ve been told over and over again to act with “an abundance of caution.” While this may be good public health advice for individuals, it’s a toxic mantra for governments, which have consistently acted with an abundance of caution that has translated into a tired pattern of cancelling things rather than doing things, and reacting rather than acting.
This is especially true when it comes to booster shots, which should more accurately be marketed as third doses. While Canada implements new border closures and provinces continue to enforce varying degrees of restrictions, officials are conspicuously silent on plans to reinforce Canadians’ immune responses.
South of our border, the U.S. Centres for Disease Control now says that all vaccinated adults should get a booster. Prior to the latest announcement, it said people should get a booster if they are 50 and older, or 18 and older and living in long-term care. After the discovery of the Omicron variant, the United Kingdom halved its minimum gap for third doses to three months and opened boosters up to all adults. (They had been available to those aged 40 to 49 since Nov. 15, and those over 50 since September.)
Meanwhile, throughout most of Canada, boosters remain restricted to those over 70 years of age, those living in long-term care facilities and certain Indigenous communities. We were late even getting this far, with the National Advisory Committee on Immunization waiting until the end of October to issue guidance and most provinces not adopting those recommendations until the first week of November.
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See Also:
(1) Yukon reports highest opioid death rate in Canada
(2) B.C. government criticized for slow flood aid response
(4) Canadians stranded abroad as Omicron COVID variant cancels flights
Jack’s Note: This doesn’t happen often with this lady but it is clear (at least to me) that she didn’t do her homework before she wrote the lead column. It’s OK, in most things she is right as rain. I love her anyway.
