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By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: As mandates begin to ease, a reminder – It ain’t over till it’s over

Feb 9, 2022 | 4:20 AM

THERE’S A LOT OF TALK right now about getting rid of COVID mandates.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has gotten a lot of attention for supporting the truckers’ convoy and pledging to do away with pandemic restrictions. Though he supports vaccinations, he announced yesterday the end of vaccine passports and mask mandates in his province.

Alberta and Quebec will follow suit with relaxing various restrictions, and both Dr. Bonnie Henry and Dr. Theresa Tam are talking more and more about “living with COVID” rather than beating it into submission.

Moe’s position has drawn ire from the medical scientific community and admiration from those who want an end to COVID restrictions no matter what. And, in truth, there’s a body of opinion that says Omicron has changed the rule book on COVID, and that we’ve basically just got to get along with it the best way we can.

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Moe and premiers like him will, no doubt, become heroes to the anti-vaxxers and anti-vax mandate folks who will claim victory. “See,” they’ll say, “we told you so. We have succeeded in forcing these ridiculous mandates to be withdrawn.”

In truth, if the country is able to start easing up on pandemic restrictions, it will have had nothing to do with people who drive trucks in a convoy or converge on super markets to hassle people wearing masks.

It will be because of those very measures that we’re getting to a better place, but we aren’t there yet. Too many people are still dying.

We’re all so tired of this pandemic that we’re tired of saying we’re tired of it. We all want to “get back to normal,” as we’re fond of saying.

It’s now accepted wisdom that, in the long run, we’ll put a lot of our eggs in the basket of annual vaccinations. That day will remain farther away if the Moe strategy results in yet another big wave.

It ain’t over till it’s over.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.