Monday, August 30, 2021

Monday Morning Sentimonies: The Elephant In The Room

Pre-warning, this post is a lot more serious in nature than my normal drivel.

I have hemmed and hawed a lot over the bye week about whether or not to wade into this discussion… well actually the concept of a discussion is extinct in today’s society and all we really do now is yell louder at each other and get frustrated when our increased volume doesn’t immediately change someone’s deeply held convictions. But I digress. There is one topic that has filled the football-less void of our conveniently timed by week… vaccine passports.

Believe me, I would much rather talk about football. We are all sick of talking about this pandemic stuff and I have consciously avoided it because I know many of you come here for content to help you escape the rest of the doom and gloom media you are bombarded with. So I’m sorry and I promise that come Friday I will be back to me normal goofball self (I mean I do have epically bash the province of Manitoba heading into the always heated Labour Day Classic). But for one day only Prophet is going to get serious and talk vaccine passports.

First a clarification. Anyone who uses the term vaccine “requirement” or “mandate” is wrong and intentionally trying to create false outrage. There is no vaccine requirement being contemplated.  Getting vaccinated is a personal choice and vaccine passports will not infringe on your choice in that matter. Vaccine passports are just saying that those who choose not to vaccinate may not be able to do certain things (like attend mass gatherings). No different than those who chose not to get a driver’s license can’t drive and those who choose become certified journey persons can’t do certain trade work because of safety concerns for the larger population. So if you are going to get outraged over vaccine passports then at least get outraged at the right thing (i.e. what you can't do) as opposed to falsehoods (that this is forcing people to get vaccinated).

By now you have probably guessed that I am in favour of vaccine passports. I understand the sentiment of “if people don’t want to get the vaccine then let them get sick” point of view but I currently have 2 major issues with it. 1 – I have a child who is not eligible to get vaccinated so that mentality basically says screw you to him and all kids (at least until they can get vaccinated). 2 – I have family members who work in the health care system and despite being already overworked over the past year they now have to take on additional strain for these “let them get sick” folks (who suddenly want science’s help when they get a disease that they refused to let science help prevent). That doesn’t even get into the higher cost of healthcare we as tax payers all have to burden, a large chunk of which is completely preventable. So if the unvaccinated a driving this new wave then placing restrictions on them that would prevent this from spreading makes a fair bit of sense… just not to our government apparently.

So far 7 of 9 CFL teams have instituted a vaccine requirement to attend games as have many other pro sports teams. Though they are staunchly refusing now, I guarantee that eventually Saskatchewan will too but they will be dragged kicking and screaming and use every stall tactic they can think of to delay the inevitable. Its sad that we are behind Calgary (i.e. the Texas of Canada) and Manitoba (just being behind Manitoba in anything is embarrassing) on this. My guess is that they announce it after Labour Day and that it takes effect October 1 so it only impacts 2 games that were destined not to sell out anyway. Better late than never I guess.

We are at a point where we can’t close our eyes and hope this is all gone when we open them (the prevailing policy direction for politicians on the prairies). But if restricting where the unvaccinated can go will help end this and keep more people from getting sick and get us back to normal at some point, then why wouldn’t we? The alternative is willingly accepting preventable illness, death, strain on our healthcare system and risk of the need of broader lockdowns again. Seems an odd stance to take to me.

Ok. That’s it for the seriousness. I’ll back Friday to talk about how awful Winnipeg is… better start typing now because the list of reasons is a long one.

6 comments:

Thomas J Gunther said...

I appreciate your candor. Thanks for putting this out there, even though it can be uncomfortable at times. Looking forward to next week's post!

Rider Prophet said...

Thanks Thomas

Anonymous said...

I'm not about to get into the vax debate except to say this. If you have to be told by health authorities, as happened the past week in the USA, that "You are not a HORSE or a COW" because you are taking ivermectin, a de-wormer for said animals, or bleach as once advised by a politician, then I don't get the opposition to vaccines. I don't get my yearly exam done by the same doctor I take my dog to. No offense intended to anyone - you have a right to do as you please. There are people who do have legitimate reasons not to take the vaccine. And I'm totally OK with that.

But this is not just about your choice. If you choose not to get vaccinated & get sick, hospital staff don't choose not to look after you to reduce risk to themselves. Companies can choose, & are increasingly doing so, to make it a condition of employment to be vaccinated. The government, whether fair or unfair, are likely going to make it a condition of travel. Trudeau, for one, has said as much. In the football world, if you haven't been paying attention, the NFL has as strict, if not more so, policies in place in this area & coaches have lost their jobs including a long time New England position coach months ago.

Consider this - you're a young player & go to the CFL to get another chance in the bigs. Most likely this means some time, maybe years on a practice roster or backup role. But the pay's very good & there's hope. Why would an owner take a chance on losing revenue by bringing on an unvaccinated player looking for a shot? It's one thing to be a high draft pick with big money invested in you. You can float around the league for a few years even if you don't live up to expectations. But a CFL player? That's why I find it so surprising that we still have teams below that 85% threshhold. I don't get it.

Rider Prophet said...

Anon - For the life of me I can't understand the Ivermec thing. Also if steroids' were legal (or least not testable) you bet the majority of players would be getting stuck... that's why the vaccine (which gives you a competitive advantage in terms of not missing time) is puzzling in terms of their resistance.

Anonymous said...

Freedom = responsibility, get the shot, everybody do your part and take one for the team…..then the unvaxxed will get some freedoms back.

Rider Prophet said...

Well the irony is that the more we act in the interest of everyone, the better it will be for us as individuals. And the the more we act in our own individual self interest the worse it will be for us as individuals