This letter is a response to “Province bullies health care workers with vaccine mandates,” which was published in the Jan. 21 edition of The Observer.
Editor,
Last week’s letter writer, Mike Schouten, was spot on with his comment that “protecting health care workers is a no brainer.” Blockades against ambulances, nurses, clinics, etc. should be a punishable offense. However, his views and mine are polar opposites when it comes to mandating vaccinations for all health care workers.
An infected, asymptomatic, unvaccinated nurse or paramedic treating a patient should never happen. As an unfortunate victim of COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, I can attest to the extreme unpleasantness of this disease. It’s awful. The doctor treating me in the COVID-19 ward of the hospital said if I had not been vaccinated, I would have been dead.
The vaccine is not political hocus-pocus. It is not an underground government conspiracy. The vaccines were developed with rigorous studies verifying their efficacy and safety. The daily examination of patient hospitalizations, ICU admissions and COVID-19 deaths shows significant differences with much higher morbidity and mortality among the unvaccinated.
So, folks, even if you don’t care about your own life, get vaccinated and save the life of a friend, family member, neighbour, heck, even a stranger.
Roger Bjaanes
Harrison Hot Springs
