CHARBONNEAU – Notes for the next pandemic

I THOUGHT THE GLOBAL RESPONSE to the pandemic went pretty well but there’s room for improvement in preparation for the next pandemic.

For one, the line between the rights of individuals versus the public good needs to be clearly drawn. And the need to quarantine must to be balanced by the compassionate needs of isolated friends and family.

It may be a grim measure of success but fewer died from the COVID pandemic than the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, despite there being four times the population now as then, and the easier transmission of disease through global travel — 7 million died from COVID so far compared to 21 million from the Spanish flu.

What we failed to do was to get everyone on board. While most people took the threat seriously, some thought that governments had overstepped their reach with compulsory vaccines. Many doubted the medical fact of the deadly virus and the expert authorities who guided the response.

Those who rejected the vaccine fact and vaccine mandate tended to fall into the populist camp: distrust of appointed health authorities, hatred of governments in power (especially the Trudeau government), distrustful of what they call the Mainstream Media.

Even our public broadcaster was subject to populist wrath. CBC radio, known for its impartial reporting because they don’t have to please any advertisers, didn’t escape being condemned as Mainstream Media. In April, 2021, a Kamloops CBC vehicle was vandalized, with “Fake News” painted on door.

This testy exchange between Kamloopsians Jon Treichel and Bill Ligertwood on Facebook characterizes the opposite points of view.

Treichel:

“Bill you might want to stop haunting all the silly conspiracy sites online because you are starting to confuse the ramblings of confused amateurs with the work of actual scientists. Come up for air buddy,”

Ligertwood responds:

“I wonder if you’ve ever looked at any actual science. You just continue to parrot the official narrative with absolutely no evidence except your belief that if the government says it, it must be true. The actual facts are now well known everywhere except in your delusional mind. I can cite at least 20 credible studies worldwide on the effectiveness of lockdowns and the absurd vaccine mandates. The truth has become clear and is becoming clearer every day. I bet you thought the trucker convoy was a right wing attempt at a coup. Seen any of the hearings? 100% bullshit was the Trudeau narrative. In your mind if Trudeau says it, we must believe it no matter how absurd. Just keep believing whatever the CBC tells you oh and your heroes at Pfizer can do no wrong either. Hard to believe anyone is naive or ignorant enough to actually believe these so called vaccines have any effect whatsoever on anything but the bottom line and a half trillion dollar debt for us.”

The rights of the individual to do what they want must be limited when those rights infringe on others. That problem can be overcome in the next pandemic by eliminating the “other.” This will require a common front on the part of influencers in social and business circles.

Despite the need to isolate to prevent the spread of disease, exceptions to isolation will be needed to allow for visits to those in nursing homes.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.