Image Credit: CFJC Today/File Photo

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Come Tuesday, I’ll be rolling up my sleeve for the new anti-COVID jab

Oct 7, 2023 | 7:34 AM

WHEN THE NEW COVID VACCINES are unboxed next week, I’ll be rolling up my sleeve for the jab. In fact, I’ve already scored an appointment for Tuesday, and will get my annual flu vaccine at the same time.

Many won’t, and that’s up to them. Many will also refuse to break out the masks again, and that, too, is up to them.

Along with respiratory illness season, it’s also conspiracy season. You know, the one in which the theorists reveal to us how COVID vaccinations are a world plot by “them” to control our minds.

The more rational anti-vaxxers stick to presenting a never-ending stream of links to various sites and reports they believe prove the vaccines we’ve been getting do nothing to prevent spread, and that the natural immunity we get from having gotten the virus (and survived it) is still the best kind.

The new COVID vaccine that will be available next week targets new strains of the virus — with names consisting of letters and numbers that nobody knows or remembers — that the older vaccines don’t. I’ve actually been waiting for quite a while for the new one to come out rather than getting the booster for the previous versions.

ONE MAN'S OPINION

COLLINS: Old songs about the future may be more accurate than we thought

8h ago

1000 WAYS TO HEAL

1000 WAYS TO HEAL: Staying Human in Heavy Times

Feb 17, 2026

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: How far out of the box should we think?

Feb 15, 2026

As I’m now well past the six-month waiting period since my last jab, I’m looking forward to finally getting the new one. I don’t believe it’s totally risk free. It’s logical that any new medication is going to carry some risk for a small percentage of the population — just listen to any TV commercial that touts the benefits of medications for any number of health problems and you’ll know there are many ways they can hurt you instead of help you.

So when people insist the COVID jab made them sick, I don’t write them off. But I’ve read enough about it that I’m confident the vaccine is much more likely to do me good than do me harm. I’m assisted in that conclusion by the fact there’s no actual evidence linking COVID vaccines to sudden deaths in otherwise healthy people.

And, sorry, I just can’t take seriously the annual claims that the vaccines contain microchips that will, yes, put us under the control of some international conspiracy to, at the least, rob us of our freedom.

When I got COVID a year ago, it put me out of commission for three days, after which I began feeling slightly human again and could function fairly well except for a bad headache and some flu-like symptoms. I learned that even after the symptoms wane, we can continue to test positive because there are still remnants of the virus in our system.

I truly believe that the reason my experience with COVID was so mild was due to the immunity I had built up from my initial jab and the boosters I had afterward.

As for returning to the mask, I’m not there yet. For much of the time I wore it, many others didn’t. Remember those ridiculous anti-mask protests? They set up a nasty national confrontation between those who wore them (and condemned anybody who didn’t) and those who didn’t (and condemned anybody who did).

So far, Dr. Bonnie Henry has mandated the return of masks only for healthcare workers, visitors, contractors and volunteers in healthcare settings (effective as of a few days ago), and it seems highly unlikely she will go further — the public is so divided there would probably be a mass refusal.

There’s so much evidence on the benefits of masking that objections seem ridiculous but, like the vaccines, it has become an issue of the all-important “freedom,” which nowadays is interpreted to mean anything we want it to mean.

I don’t know of anyone who claims wearing a mask is a guarantee against catching COVID but there’s plenty of evidence that, combined with hand washing, social distancing and vaccinations, they have an important role to play.

The pandemic may be over but it’s as plain as the nose on your face that COVID isn’t. It will likely be a part of our lives for the rest of our lives, and we have to take precautions just as we do for the flu and other respiratory diseases.

No government in its right mind would take us back to lockdowns and all the pain they caused but that doesn’t mean doing nothing at all. COVID cases are on the rise again and I’m going to do what I can to protect myself and others. You’re free to join me or not but, please, refrain from the nonsense.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

—

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.