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People are morons. They are abusing health care workers who are trying to save their ignorant, stupid lives. Can you imagine the audacity of some of these donkey-donuts cursing out medical staff while proclaiming Covid isn’t real? It’s happening here in Texas-North, and i am fucking embarrassed to live in this clownshow of a province.
“While we’re on this unit, the doctors (and nurses) are just being horrifically, horrifically abused,” she said.
“(Health-care workers are) being sworn at, they’re being told that COVID isn’t real and (patients) don’t want to be intubated,” Christensen said.
“There are no words at this point. I’m just completely baffled. I’ve walked the halls of this ICU. I’ve seen that it’s real.”
Un
Fraking
Believable.
Dr. Paul Parks, the head of emergency medicine for the Alberta Medical Association, said the situation in Alberta hospitals will only become worse without an increase in restrictions.
“I am advocating so strongly for increased public health measures at this point in time and our government to take leadership and to put in some meaningful restrictions,” Parks said.
He said he believes the province is just days away from implementing critical care triage, with increasing COVID-19 patients and no workers to care for them.
“We’re for sure close,” he said. “We cannot continue to keep adding (patients).
This public health crisis was easily predictable and entirely avoidable, but our conservative UCP government led by Jason Kenny proclaimed the province was “Open for Summer!” and lifted all public health safety restrictions.
321 Albertans died for the “Open for Summer” debacle – and more are dying everyday – expect a big jump in the death toll once the medical triage starts.
What a tragedy, made worse with the knowledge that it was entirely preventable.
“Ok…I am ready to share whether anyone wants to read or not.
I am far more of a qualitative researcher than quantitative. I like themes and patterns. Swabbing today uncovered a theme I guess I didn’t expect. Yes there were lots of kids.Tons of Close Contacts that created stress and confusion for families. There were a lot of 20-somethings who had friends test positive and most of them were unvaccinated. That wasn’t a surprise either. There were more unvaccinated than I anticipated and in groups I wouldn’t have expected. I did my darnedest to answer questions and hear concerns about this.Maybe I swayed one which is a win no matter what.But what became so evident was how so many aspects of this pandemic are dividing FAMILIES. The dangerous narrative Jason Kenney and the UCP have perpetuated that COVID isn’t a big deal if you’re healthy or younger has begun to show itself in the basic day to day functioning of families.A parent with their under 12 child needing to get swabbed because grandparent came for dinner sick knowingly and it turned out to be Delta. The pain and anger was palpable and intruding into the marriage of these parents. Watching tears stream down mom’s face as she explained why they were there was excruciating because she understood the selfish risk the child had been placed in. A grandson and his grandmother being tested as he livedin her home as well as his parents’ who had both recently tested positive and he was beside himself that he may have passed it on to gramma unknowingly.He was angry at his unvaccinated parents. But when he described how ill his dad was, we had to discuss the need to seek medicalattention before it was too late. Likely another admission to hospital by my estimation. A father asked me how they might convince their teenage son to get vaccinated when there was so much misinformation at his disposal that fueled his fears. We sat for 20 minutes talking about strategies and questions to pose. He was desperate for a way to convince his child to do as they had and protect himself. He admitted that until his son was alienated from things he enjoyed because he wasn’t vaccinated, he didn’t think he would get it.You see, these constant shifts over the last year created solely and purposely by Kenney have created imbalance at every level. It is exactly as he wants it to be. Because with imbalance comes distraction and with distraction comes Kenney’s ability to remain unaccountable. While families are strugglingto remain in tact with their heads’ barely above water, Kenney ignites kindling of a million little fires. It destroys the fibre of community.That is what I saw today. I saw families in crisis. NOT because of COVID itself but the misinformation and anger and distrust that this government has planted and cultivated since day one. We only need to look to the east coast to see how doing things the “other way” could strengthen community and family resolve. We are a province divided…but today I witnessed how, like the crisis in our health system, the lack of empathy, compassion and leadership as caused a crisis in families.There is a such a deep need for guidance and comfort right now. The vaccine debate is just another reflection of the turmoil that has been orchestrated in Alberta. What I witnessed today was people desperate for definitive compassionate leadership.Desperate.It will get worse before it gets better. This I know. I need to believe it WILL get better though. I need to.”
Canada is experiencing a fair amount of Covid fatigue. The reception of news of the fourth wave seems like only a small ripple in the news. Unsurprisingly the news isn’t particularly good. The light at the end of the pandemic tunnel has gotten farther and dimmer as the delta variant of Covid 19 makes its rounds through the population.
“The country’s seven-day average for new daily cases is now close to 1,300 — an increase of nearly 60 per cent over the previous week, with cases ticking back up mainly in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.
“We’re absolutely in the fourth wave,” said Dr. Peter Juni, who is the scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. “There’s no doubt about that.”
But unlike previous waves, which overwhelmed various hospital systems and led to catastrophic death in long-term care facilities, there is hope this spike won’t be quite so dire.”
Do we have the pandemic under control? I think much of that answer to that will depend on how willing Canadians are to get fully vaccinated.
“High vaccination uptake across the country has changed the game: Roughly 60 per cent of Canadians are now fully vaccinated, and research continues to show leading vaccines offer high levels of protection from serious illness, even against the fast-spreading delta variant.”
“The point is we can’t go back to normal,” said Juni. “Because we continue to have a challenge with the large proportion of people who remain unvaccinated.”
As usual, we have the crowd that arduously shout about how their personal freedom is being impinged upon by pubic health measures. This is the segment of the population that will knowingly or unknowingly cause the pandemic to drag on for much longer than necessary.
“Unprotected individuals around the world have proven vulnerable to the highly contagious delta variant in recent weeks, with surges of cases — including serious infections and deaths — in areas of low vaccine coverage, ranging from entire regions in Africa to certain U.S. states.
“This is going to overwhelmingly be a disease of unvaccinated Canadians and under-vaccinated populations,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases physician and member of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine task force.”
The Delta variant is kicking the ass of un-vaccinated populations, not only in Canada, but world wide. It is very much a personal responsibility/consequences issue. It’s just that in this case the vaccine hesitant are, in my opinion, are acting irresponsibly and unfortunately the consequences can be quite dire. No one should have to suffer intubation or the Long Covid when we have the means of preventing the majority of such outcomes.
“With early signs of a delta-driven wave beginning and the fall approaching, efforts to increase the proportion of fully vaccinated Canadians and reinforce individual precautions per local public health advice are crucial to reducing virus spread and lowering the risk of a resurgence that could lead to health-care capacity being exceeded this coming fall and winter,” said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, in a statement on Tuesday.”
Let’s make this pandemic as short as possible and continue to follow the best evidenced based public health practices.
I’m flabbergasted.
You won’t have to isolate or quarantine if you test positive for Covid? I think Dr.Hinshaw has finally given in to the political machinations she’s had to fight against during the UCP’s legendary mishandling of the pandemic in Alberta.
No masking required in schools? Or in public transportation?
It is discouraging when your government decides that the best possible policy course is going to be “survival of the fittest”. People who are immune compromised or other vulnerable populations can apparently go fuck themselves.
I won’t be taking part in any of the freshly reopened economy. I will continue to distance and mask for the protection of myself and others.
See you in the 4th wave.
I’m not buying it. The Alberta re-opening, as much as I want it to happen, is just too soon.
Stage 3: Two weeks after 70% of Albertans 12+ (born in 2009 or earlier) have received at least one dose. Effective July 1. All restrictions lifted, including ban on indoor social gatherings. Isolation requirements for confirmed cases of COVID-19 and some protective measures in continuing care settings remain. The general indoor provincial mask mandate will be lifted, but masking may still be required in limited and specific settings. More information will be shared prior to the start of Stage 3.
The UCP Alberta government has consistently placed it’s citizens in harms way. Ignoring professional medical advice and best practices we have blundered through this pandemic. Half measures have been par for the course leading to an overtaxed healthcare system and needless deaths.
And yet, here we are, about to go full hog-wild into the summer months with masking requirements being lifted and full indoor gatherings being give the green light.
There are already concerns in Ontario about a possible fourth wave –
“On Friday I want to remind our residents that these first steps to reopening are not a full return to normal. We do have high first dose coverage but we have low second dose coverage and the science shows that only 33 to 50 per cent protection is afforded against the Delta variant with one dose. That protection may not be enough to forestall a resurgence if we reopen and re-engage too quickly,” Loh warned. “You can start to meet with people outside your home but continue to limit your contact and ensure that you’re following precautions.”
Ontario will enter the first step in its reopening plan as of 12:01 a.m. on Friday, allowing retail stores to reopen at 15 per cent capacity and bars and restaurants to serve customers on their patios.
Loh did indicate that he believes Peel is ready for a partial reopening but he said that residents must remember that the Delta variant growing in the community “ahead of the rest of the province” and “will continue to grow.”
In fact, Loh said that the variant likely accounts for 30 to 35 per cent of all new cases in Peel Region already and is increasingly being observed in workplace outbreaks.
“The potential fourth wave is brewing right now and that’s why I think you’ve heard myself and Mayor (Patrick) Brown really pointing to the advice that we’ve received from the science table to accelerate second doses in communities that are seeing Delta variant activity, such as ours,” he said.
Brown calls on province to ramp up vaccine supply
Back in May the province directed 50 per cent of its vaccine supply to hot spot communities such as Peel but it has not yet committed to a similar strategy for second doses in communities experiencing a rise in Delta variant cases, despite calls from its own science advisory table to do so.”
Masking and maintaining sanitary precautions at least until October for me.
Statistics are a part of our lives. Sadly, most people do not have a clue how they work and how they are to be interpreted. Our conservative government here in Alberta continues to find unique and exciting new ways to drop the ball when it comes to dealing with the pandemic. The government has set up mass vaccination clinics in Calgary and Edmonton and both are ghost-towns.
Why?
(**edit – It has been brought to my attention that this comparison is more like orange to apples than oranges to oranges – The type of clot and severity are on quite different scales. However, a better comparison would be the possible chance and complications from the AstraZenca vaccine versus the chance and effects of being infected with Covid 19 or one of its variants and the complications involved. The vaccine is the better choice.)
Because people don’t want to die of AstraZeneca vaccine related blood clots. How likely is that to happen? Roughly the risk is 1 in 250,000.
Scary, right?
The risk of getting blot clots from another injection – Between 3 and 9 people out 10,000 will develop blood clots on the birth control pill.
Yet Birth Control pills are still widely prescribed and used in society with not a great deal of hoopla. That being said, this what the vaccination centre looked like here :
“The mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Edmonton Expo Centre can administer 7,000 shots per day, if operating at full capacity.
On Wednesday, it did 280.
The rapid-flow clinic is solely offering the AstraZeneca vaccine and only to Albertans aged 55 to 64. An Alberta Health Services spokesperson said the Expo clinic did not run at full capacity this week because a slow uptake was expected for the shots.
On its opening day on Monday, the clinic administered 1,632 doses. That dropped sharply the next day to 520. As of Thursday mid-morning, AHS said around 400 people were booked for the day.
Another mass clinic at the Calgary Telus Convention Centre is also facing low appointment numbers after it opened last week.
“The first day we were doing about 5,000. Right now, we have bookings for between 500 and 1,000 people,” Dr. Cheri Nijssen-Jordan, AHS’s vaccine task force co-lead, said in an interview with the Calgary Eyeopener on Thursday.”
The targeted people in the demographic are small in society and are afraid of the AZ vaccine – because blood clots(?).
“Nijssen-Jordan said part of the issue is hesitancy brought on by reports of extremely rare blood clots occurring in people who have received AstraZeneca, also known as Covishield.
On Wednesday, Health Canada announced it had completed a safety review and found that AstraZeneca is safe, and that Canadians over 18 shouldn’t hesitate to take it if offered.
Eligibility is still limited to those over 55 for the time being as the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is still reviewing research and hasn’t updated its recommendation. An Alberta Health spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that the province is following NACI’s recommendation and will continue to only offer AstraZeneca to Albertans aged 55 to 64.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said Thursday that the province’s Alberta Advisory Committee on Immunization would discuss expanding the age eligibility this week.”
So because of statistical illiteracy we have viable vaccinations sitting on the shelf while not all essential and front line people have been vaccinated.
The UCP government has added fruitless dithering to its already terrible record of dealing with the pandemic in this province.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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