The April 1, 2022 from B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry seems to be a veiled response to the B.C. Human Rights Commissionersa国际传媒檚 .
sa国际传媒淕iven the benefits of the mask mandate for thousands of marginalised people and the minimal impact on those being asked to wear one, the balance at this time favours continuing the mask mandate.sa国际传媒� - Kasari Govender
Our B.C. public health officersa国际传媒檚 opinion was published on the same day B.C. surpassed 3,000 deaths from COVID-19, a number that experts have told us falls short of the true COVID-19 death toll in B.C. Dr. Henrysa国际传媒檚 piece also appears as B.C. is entering its 6th wave, with three of five showing rising viral concentration on March 28th and COVID-19 hospital admissions in the two largest health authorities (Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health) trending higher.
Instead of warning B.C. residents of the rise in cases in their community from the spread of the more contagious Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, Dr. Henry explains why she feels she is justified in removing capacity limits and mask protections at this time.
She also goes on to state that sa国际传媒淰accines we now know are the definitive intervention that provide by far the best protection against COVID-19.sa国际传媒� A vaccine alone approach did not work last year, as the three most western Canadian provinces found out after having their own version of the sa国际传媒淏est Summer Eversa国际传媒� while Delta was spreading. Why do we think that the sa国际传媒淏est Spring Eversa国际传媒� will be any different?
sa国际传媒淣ow that we have reached a high level of immunity from vaccination the balance of requiring masks by a legal order is tipped.sa国际传媒�
This could NOT be further from the truth, as our vaccines, while preventing severe infections, offer time limited protection against infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 with immunity waning after 15 weeks. As well, sa国际传媒渇ully vaccinatedsa国际传媒� against Omicron and BA.2 now means three doses. In B.C., only 49 per cent of our population has had three doses and many of our most vulnerable received their third dose close to five months ago. Additionally, 14 per cent of British Columbians are still unvaccinated, including 226,000 children under five. Why we would not want to continue protecting them is beyond comprehension.
Without focusing our efforts on stopping viral transmission, we will continue to see wave after wave of COVID-19 infections with the attendant toll it takes on our healthcare system, our citizens and our economy, not to mention the devastation of long COVID disability each wave leaves behind. Finally, we have a collective responsibility as global citizens to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to prevent the evolution of more contagious and deadly variants.
Waves are caused by bad public health policies and by failing to act quickly in the face of exponential growth in cases. There is now almost no testing and contact tracing happening in B.C., leaving any public health response to occur only once our hospitals and our burnt out healthcare providers are overwhelmed, again. Wesa国际传媒檝e all seen this story before and know how it ends and how it ultimately impacts everyone.
Perhaps more egregious still is that two years into this pandemic, our B.C. public health officer fails to acknowledge that the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads through the air we share and breathe. WHO, Public Health Agency of Canada, US CDC and the have all recognized the supporting science-based evidence and added sa国际传媒渃leaning the airsa国际传媒� to their recommendations.
sa国际传媒淚f you do not fill your glass with water from the toilet bowl, then during this pandemic think of the air you breathe in the same way.sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒揚rofessor Raina MacIntyre, Head Global Biosecurity Program Kirby Institute
Removing masks and other COVID protections without addressing indoor air quality, while a more contagious BA.2 sub-variant is spreading through the air, is nothing short of reckless. It is especially so when the B.C. human rights commissioner has raised the alarm over the negative effects of these policies on marginalized groups, including sa国际传媒渋mmunocompromised people, older people, Indigenous and racialized peoples, people with disabilities, and low-income communitiessa国际传媒�, without forgetting people suffering from multiple chronic conditions and our children under five for whom a vaccine has yet to be authorized.
We can and should do better.
-Protect our Province BCsa国际传媒檚 Steering Committee, Dr. Brenda Hardie and Dr. Lyne Filiatrault
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