June 29, 2021
The province has done a great job of vaccinating. Today, over 76 percent of eligible people over 12 years old have had their first vaccine shot, and over 30 percent are now fully vaccinated. We have been fully vaccinated for over 3 weeks and supposedly have less than 5 percent chance of catching the Covid virus and its mutated strains. Today was a particularly good milestone. With vaccines increasing, the provincial new cases per day continue to plummet, with less than 30 new cases for the last few days. Today Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that with the increased number of vaccinated people, we will now move into phase 3 of the recovery plan effective July 1. Most of the health restrictions are being lifted, with moving from required to recommended. Full vaccinated people may visit indoors without masks, even hug loved ones, limits on how many people may eat together at a restaurant has been lifted, most businesses may open, outdoor gatherings may grow, and venues may accommodate the greater of 50 people or 50 percent of capacity. This includes opening up church services. While the wearing of masks in many places is still recommended, it will not be required for fully vaccinated people. Travel throughout Canada is allowed, although non-essential travel outside Canada is not recommended and has protocols for returning Canadians. The Canada-US border remains closed.
This is great news, and while there are still restrictions, we are rapidly approaching a more normal existence. Meanwhile we battle a new experience. Western Canada this week entered a massive heat wave, which produced temperatures in the 40’s Celsius for several days in B.C. We happened to be on vacation in the Shuswap area, beside a lake, on the hottest days. Yesterday Lytton recorded over 47 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada, and higher than the highest temperature for Las Vegas. (DeathValley has recorded higher temperatures.) After last year at this place, I had no plans to swim in the cold lake, but this year has been dramatically different and I have taken the plunge regularly. The lake is much warmer.
I am excited that CFL football will be returning August 5, and while there may be limited fans at first, by September we hope all restrictions will be lifted. Of course, there are always those who wish to dampen people’s spirits. While case numbers plummet and things look good at last, some medical people, trying to get press I presume, like to discourage people with warnings of possible 4th waves of the pandemic in the fall, and Pooh-hawing the lifting of restrictions. I refuse to let them discourage me as we continue to plan future trips. Even my foot, which has not improved for months, is finally starting to improve, and I am slowly increasing my daily walking. After all, a walking safari is still on the books for next August.
August 17, 2021
OK, those stupid pessimists that warned of a fourth wave were right! After case numbers and hospitalizations were going down entering the month of July, the wave hit. Many of the restrictions for wearing face masks and limiting gatherings were lifted. In Blind Bay, the result was immediate. Face mask restrictions were lifted on July 1, although they were still strongly recommended. We went into the local grocery store that afternoon and everyone from staff to customers had stopped wearing masks. By mid July, daily numbers climbed steadily, although hospitalizations stayed low, due to the fact that vaccinated people were not getting sick enough to require medical attention. Numbers skyrocketed in the USA as well, with the overwhelming majority of cases being among the unvaccinated. There, it seemed it was a political issue, with Republicans being the major group refusing vaccines. Now governments are considering requiring that certain people be vaccinated to protect the public but there remains pushback from those refusing to believe.
For me, this has not had a large personal effect. We do see friends and family more now, although there remains high tension between vaccinated and unvaccinated family members. For now, we can meet outside with low risk, but once the summer weather changes, that may become an issue. The number of people vaccinated now goes up very slowly, not because of lack of supply, but because those not vaccinated do not want it. Clearly as a result, this pandemic will be with us much longer than I first anticipated.
Actually, the pandemic has been superseded by the weather. BC has had several heat waves, with temperatures reaching the high 30's and even 40 degrees in areas. It seems that most areas of the province are being ravaged by wildfires. The town of Lytton was destroy at the end of June and each day communities are being put on evacuation alert due to approaching fires.
September 14, 2021
I think we are all sick of the pandemic. Many, including me, thought that by the end of summer, things would be back to normal, or at least close to it. Even with the 4th wave, the number of vaccinated people continues to climb and should do its job of limiting the virus spread. However, it just keeps going. In B.C. it feels like those who want to vaccine have it, unless they were too lazy to go get it, and those who are unvaccinated are mostly so because they choose to be. On top of that, while being vaccinated has clearly proven to be effective in reducing the chances of being hospitalized from COVID, the newest estimates of protection levels are not as high as once thought, and now there is talk of possible booster shots, which unusual I guess. I can't blame doctors or scientists since we are all learning as we go, but it is discouraging. The numbers of new infections daily has jumped and continues to be higher than before the summer, and we are now heading into Fall and more indoor interaction. It is also frustrating to hear people who have been double vaccinated saying that they should be fine now to interact in a normal way with unvaccinated people. The majority of unvaccinated people of course are virus -free, but they are at higher risk of contracting the virus. Fully vaccinated can still catch the virus from them, and while they may have little or less severe symptoms, they become carriers and can pass the virus on to others, like my grandchildren! At this stage, it is more about them than me.
We have had several major developments locally. Effective September 13, people with at least one dose of vaccine may go to licensed restaurants, ticketed sporting events, movies gyms and several other businesses that previously were vulnerable to being shut down by outbreaks. By October, only double-vaccinated people may avail themselves of these businesses and activities. You need to get a vaccine card which businesses must ask for before admitting you in. For those like myself who are fully vaccinated but want to remain vigilant so I don't catch and pass on the virus, this gives me greater comfort that these establishments are safe. However, for many, it feels like the government has created two classes of people, denying services to those who are unvaccinated. The government insists that no essential services would be withheld from anyone, and that unvaccinated can still access take-out food, go to coffee shops and fast food outlets, etc. There is a lot of hostility. I tend to lean on the side of caution and pray that this measure will be short-lived, but understand the reaction of some anti-vaxers. It is just too bad that those who oppose vaccines are so militant and inflammatory. Some of the wild name-calling and outrageously offensive comments I have seen, even from Christians, is very troubling. To add salt to the wound, just yesterday our Dr. Henry announced that all healthcare providers, including anyone working in hospitals of other care facilities, whether employees or contract labour, must be vaccinated or possibly face unpaid leave from their work. Again, I applaud the need to protect the health of our sick and vulnerable, but this may go badly.
Someone recently told me that as far as he was concerned, we need to give more concern to the economy, and regardless of the numbers, there should be no further shutdowns. We need to move on. I suggested to him that if the virus continued to spread, and no action was taken, more people would die. I asked if he had a family member in mind that he would sacrifice for the sake of the economy. An outrageous statement of course, but sometimes people do not have people close to them who have died of COVID and need to have the issue brought closer to home. It may not even be a family member dying of COVID, but not getting a vital operation because the hospital is overrun with COVID patients.
We continue to plan for 2022 in the hope that with the current measures in place, the pandemic may soon be at least controlled and travel will one again be possible. The wounds created by the rhetoric between friends and family make take much longer to heal.
