Dear Editor
Recently I went for blood tests at the lab in Frontier Mall in North Battleford. The lab worker was working seven days straight and was working between the lab and the hospital. The worker was not complaining. I asked. They are quite short staffed even today. High COVID rates affect the vaccinated, too.
My friend needs hip surgery. There are about 750 people waiting ahead of him. If he doesn't get it soon the whole hip joint will need to be replaced which will create a lot of extra cost to the system and a lot of extra suffering. Another friend requires minor bowel surgery. His surgeon has been seconded to COVID Care and 90 per cent of his OR and office time have been cancelled. He has had two telephone interviews in the last 18 months, but nothing can be done until his next colonoscopy which they cannot schedule.
Seniors living in a nursing home (their permanent residence), are not allowed to have fully vaccinated staff around them if they are in a nursing home under provincial health care. I would like to see the Sask Party support the majority who chose to be vaccinated by requiring staff in nursing homes be vaccinated or present proof at their own expense that they are not carrying the virus. The mental health tole on these seniors is cruel and should be considered.
If the Delta Variant is as contagious as chicken pox - which epidemiologists say it is - this variant is highly contagious. For this reason, there needs to be more leadership from our provincial government. Our medical health officer last Wednesday commended the U of S for requiring staff and students to be vaccinated yet he did not use his position of leadership himself to mandate more situations that require vaccinations - starting with large gatherings like Rider Games, concerts, and many other venues where people are unmasked indoors. The only strategy that the Sask Party uses to fight COVID presently, is vaccination. It would seem reasonable to exert more pressure on those choosing to be unvaccinated by requiring it for these kinds of events.
Clearly, few can complain that they are losing their ability to choose not to get a vaccination. People can still choose not to be vaccinated but it will come to them with a higher cost. They will simply be participating in fewer activities or agree to submit to regular testing. The 20 per cent who will not be vaccinated seem to be running the Sask Party policy. I am asking the Sask Party to use leverage, and make it more difficult for those over 12 to choose to not vaccinate, as vaccination is the only strategy the Sask Party is willing to use.
An indoor mask mandate is inconvenient but it would prevent lock downs and work shutdowns, which appear to be the only activities that will cause the Sask Party to protect the vulnerable. If the illness does not touch the pocket book, the Sask Party is happy to let each sector, each business and each school division take on the criticism that restrictions will cause.
Please use your leverage to open the ears of your colleagues. In an action that prevents the spread of COVID, there is protection for our children. They want to be in school. They are used to wearing masks throughout the past school year. They wore those masks for us older people all last winter. I think we should be willing to protect the children in the months to come by mandating masks in all Saskatchewan schools. The majority of parents and teachers welcome this protection for the students so that the schools do not have to go online.
Why should 20 per cent of the population who do not want any restrictions run our province? Unvaccinated children under 12 need our support.
Marilyn Richardson
North Battleford
