(Covid) Relaxation

Prior to November 2019, “covid” did not exist in our vocabulary.

Subsequently, it began to dominate, and shaped our lives emphatically in 2020 and 2021.

Its grip loosened somewhat in 2022.

Individuals and communities have been transformed in the process.

1. Germ-phobic individuals were affirmed to the nth degree, as mask-wearing, hand-sanitizing, “social distancing” and so on were mainstreamed.

2. Authoritarians were affirmed, as the intrusive micro-management of parks, playgrounds, supermarket aisles, airplanes, and so on was mainstreamed “where is your mask? Do you have your vaccine passport?”

3. Vaccinophiles were affirmed, as not one, not two, but three four five new vaccine injections were mainstreamed, in some cases coercively.

4. “Virtual reality” lovers were affirmed, as in-person work, education, and social gatherings gave way to video conferencing.

Over the past weeks, significant signs of change on this front are emerging: statements by the new Premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, regarding the grotesque discrimination that accompanied covid vaccines; a court case in New York City that ruled in favour of people who had lost their jobs to vaccine mandates. In early October, the abandonment of vaccine discrimination for travel in Canada.

It will be some time yet before the relaxation is complete. For my part, I remain persona non-grata at the hospital where I served for ten years, due to non-compliance with their covid vaccination policy. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario continues their investigation of my work in divulging covid research on Twitter. Numerous Ontario colleagues are under worse pressure from the College than I am, including several whose livelihoods in Ontario were taken from them because of vaccine exemption writing. What I take from this is that there are pockets of society where the obsession with covid will take considerably longer to let up.

It will be an interesting day for me when the word “covid” does not come up, even once.