A third pandemic letter to my unborn grandchild Sparky:
Dear Sparky:
I last wrote to you in October, when we were in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is time for an update.
It is the start of the second year of the pandemic. We are now in a fast spreading third wave as a result of variants of the virus. It is shocking how quickly we imported new strains from the UK and Brazil. We can only hope our vaccines work against them and any future versions.
Your grandmother and I received our first of two shots last week. Most of the people in my circle have also responsibly taken their vaccine. That being said, there are still idiots out there. An acquaintance orders vitamins on the internet which he believes will prevent him and his partner from getting the COVID virus.
Go figure. I will be giving them a wide berth.
Another says the entire pandemic is a hoax and that all of the news is a fabricated hoax. He did not elaborate for what purpose though. We have herd idiocy rather than herd immunity.
I wish there was a responsible way of giving up my place in the vaccine queue to someone performing an essential service. I do not really go anywhere, so I would have gladly given my spot to a store worker for example. Unfortunately, there are queue jumpers out there.
The pro-disease anti-maskers have either faded away or are no longer newsworthy.
The good news is your grandmother is now able to visit my mum in the care home. My mother likes my wife more than me, so she is very happy and has missed my wife greatly.
The deaths in long-term care facilities are under control as most clients and staff had received second doses. When we come out of this pandemic, job one is to fix private long-term care homes. It will only get worse as we baby boomers age into them.
We are not to travel outside of our regional health district, which is Kelowna to the U.S. border, unless it is deemed to be essential. Authourities can do random road stop checks to enforce this rule. It is mind-boggling we do this, yet we still allow international travel, travel from poorly managed Alberta and foot crossings at the U.S. border.
As you know, I walk the dogs in the local vineyard. On the weekend there were four vehicles in the parking lot, three Alberta plates and one Saskatchewan. I guess wine tasting is essential to some people.
We had a provincial election and the socialists managed a majority as their management of the pandemic up to that point was pretty good. We have dodged a federal election. Liberal government pandemic management is suspect and they will cling to power in a minority mandate. Their procurement of vaccines has been, at best, irregular. As a country, Canada has to be more self-sufficient in protective gear, testing and vaccines.
In hindsight, if there had been a serious lockdown a year ago, the pandemic would not be dragging on. My heart goes out to all health care workers as they must be both exhausted, frustrated and some degree damaged.
All that being said, my next big decision will be to organize take-out for Mother’s Day or BBQ a couple of nice steaks.
We are blessed.
Granddad John
PS: Sparky, sorry to have saddled your generation with paying off our deficit.
John Dorn is a retired tech entrepreneuer who resides in Summerland. This column appears on a recurring basis.