ROTHENBURGER: Should the unvaccinated be ineligible to take up hospital beds?

Whatever the source, the RIH outbreaks highlight once again the strain being put on the system. Images of over-crowded wards give rise to suggestions that those who haven’t been vaxxed should have to pay for their own medical care, or not be eligible for health care at all if they catch the virus.

It’s a scenario that would reduce the pressure on hospitals and save some expense. Mostly, though, the sentiment is one of revenge.

This pandemic makes us angry at each other. We see no justice in a COVID-infected anti-vaxxer taking up a bed that could be used by someone else.

But, just a minute. Our healthcare system has never operated on the basis of who deserves care and who doesn’t. When we become sick, we’re treated the same no matter who we are.

Should we now deny health care to prison inmates because they’ve done bad things? Should we take it away from someone who’s been injured in an auto accident he or she caused while driving drunk?

How about someone who’s behind on their taxes? Pay up first, then we’ll let you in?

No, that’s not the way to run a system. Anti-vaxxers deserve the same level of care as anyone else. They’re human beings. We can debate with them, even get mad at them, but when they get the virus, our values say, we’ll look after you.

There’s no room in this country for retribution through the withdrawal of medical care.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

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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.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: Should the unvaccinated be ineligible to take up hospital beds?

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