, 08.08.2021 06:28 AM

My latest: dear unvaccinated idiots

Dear Unvaccinated People:

I’d love to say it’s nothing personal, but it is.

It’s really, really personal.

The fact that you refuse to get vaccinated, I mean. I’m sick of you, no pun intended. And I’m not alone.

The Globe and Mail commissioned a Nanos poll on it. My friend and former colleague John Ibbitson wrote on it. 

This is the question they asked: “Would you support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or oppose unvaccinated people being denied access to public gatherings like sporting events or indoor dining in restaurants?”

Wrote John, who has been a smallish-c conservative-minded fellow since we met in the Ottawa Citizen newsroom more than thirty years ago: “Seventy-eight per cent of respondents said they would support (59%) or somewhat support (19%) such a ban. Only 15% opposed a ban, and 5% were somewhat opposed. Two per cent were unsure.” 

That 20% — Team Covid, you could call them, and I do — neatly corresponds to the number of Canadian vaccination holdouts, which I wrote about in these pages, earlier this week.

And if they’re declining to get the jab because it might make things worse – like one friend of mine, who was paralyzed for months after getting a flu shot a few years ago – then, fine. That’s a bona fide reason not to get vaccinated against Covid-19. No one will get mad at you for that.

But refusing to get it because you think Covid “is no worse than the flu?” Or because you’re comparatively young “and in good shape?”

Or because you believe the basement-dwelling epidemiologists on Twitter — the ones whose handle is typically a Teutonic name followed by a bunch of numbers, alongside a picture of a wolf — over the men and women who, you know, actually went to school and studied viruses and disease and save lives every day?

Get your head out of your arse.

Because the rest of us are sick to death — pun intended, sorry but it fits — of you.

Yes, you.

Oh, and that Nanos poll Ibbitson wrote about? Don’t put on your pretend Poll Expert hat now, either.

Everyone is against you, pretty much, in every region of Canada.

Wrote John: “There was no difference in support between men and women. Regionally, support ranged from 7% in Atlantic Canada to 81% in Ontario.”

Now, nobody has deputized me to speak on behalf of the Silent Majority, Team Covid, but someone had to.

And, besides, while we are decidedly the majority, we are silent no more.

If you don’t want to get vaccinated because you’re an idiot, fine.

The Not-So-Silent Majority won’t force you to stop being an idiot. But we sure as hell don’t want to rub elbows with you anymore.

That’s what the July-August poll of more than 1,000 Canadians found, as well: the majority aren’t in favour of mandatory vaccinations.

But they, we, are in favour of making a few changes in our living arrangements.

That means, wrote the Globe, limits on “any public gathering that involves people being close together, such as workplaces, college campuses, hospitals, airplanes, public transit, gyms, shops and supermarkets.” 

Bottom line? Stay unvaccinated, sure.

But stay home, Team Covid.

Oh, and save us your lectures about freedom, by the by. Because “freedom” explicitly and constitutionally includes the freedom to “life” as well as liberty. It includes “security of the person,” too.

Your stubborn, stupefying refusal to get a little needle that will keep you healthy and alive — and keep healthy and alive those who for some reason still care about you — is dangerous. And it’s putting the rest of us in danger.

Get the shot, or don’t. But if you don’t, stay away.

Because for the majority of us, this has become really, really personal.

Sincerely,

Etc.

— Warren Kinsella was chief of staff to a federal Liberal Minister of Health

38 Comments

  1. PJH says:

    Well said. A friend of mine deemed the idjits “Branch Covidians”….

    • Maureen says:

      I love that!

    • Tired ofassholes says:

      You’re an idiot. Clearly you aren’t paying attention and it’s also clear that you have placed your feelings above science.

    • Kim Sim says:

      I am kimsimchak@gmail.com and I am anti-vaccination moron.

    • NonYour Business says:

      Good God,
      I absolute lies this article spreads is unbelievable..

      Please read for yourselves and do not follow idiots like this that spread the lies over and over!!
      Read the CDC documentation, read the FDA documentation. read the documents for thousands of Medical Professionals Warning You NOT to take a shot to save you from a virus the is 99.96% survivable. Please use your common since!!..

  2. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    Our COVID-19 genius still isn’t vaccinated and won’t work from home. And surprise, surprise, management will not force her to work from home or better yet, give her her walking papers à la CNN. So, it’s in the hands of God and a good lawyer so if she somehow manages to kill someone in our office, I will sue her little ass off for say five million dollars.

  3. The Doctor says:

    It ain’t just the views on vaccines that are idiotic. There’s this view frequently circulating among Trumpy people that masks somehow deprive you of oxygen and therefore cause brain damage. Just saw another example of this on the Breitbart comment section today.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Doc,

      Brain damage has been irrefutably shown to be caused almost exclusively by any kind of exposure to Trump.

    • David James says:

      Do you even know what the majority ion masks worn are ??? You Moron, the surgical masks worn by 98% of people is designed to captures droplets of water from dropping into a patient having a procedure. It does NOTHING to stop a Virus.
      You Obviously have no IDEA what you are talking about.
      Since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve read hundreds of studies on the science of medical masks. Based on extensive review and analysis, there is no question in my mind that healthy people should not be wearing surgical or cloth masks. Nor should we be recommending universal masking of all members of the population. That recommendation is not supported by the highest level of scientific evidence.

  4. Doug says:

    Talk of “vaccine passports” is more pandemic theatre. If such a thing were a good idea, and I have no opinion, it would be challenging to implement:

    1) a standardized, secure and private government issued document would have needed to be in place before citizens starting receiving second doses

    2) given the lack of data around the lifepsan of effective immunity, what would be the expiry date on such a document?

    3) asking individuals and private enterprise to enforce such a system would set them up for abuse from customers and potential liability if tbey wrongfully include or exclude individuals based on the so called passport.

    4) privacy laws and principles carefully guard health information? Does anyone other than a healthcare provider have the legal right to enquire about vaccination status?

    A better approach would be to deny certain government services to the less than fully vaccinated. For example, an unvaccinated individual wouldn’t be able to renew vehicle registrations, transfer vehicle registration, buy or sell property, renew driver’s licences, obtain marriage certificates or complete a divorce. Of course government would need a highly accurate mechanism to link vaccination status to driver’s license numbers, addresses etc., which would be expecting too much.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Doug,

      I don’t know about vaccine passports but in Quebec at least, the go-ahead has already been given. So, it’s coming in this Canadian jurisdiction.

    • Sean says:

      1. Already done.
      2. 9 mos. Booster shot update to the passport. No big deal.
      3. It won’t be an “ask”. It will be a requirement. Price of doing business. No such thing as liability for following government protocol. There will be major / heavy liability for not following the rules. Reverse onus.
      4. Yes. Health units already collect data for:
      diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningitis , whooping cough, chickenpox. Can’t go to school without the health unit’s OK.

      People can slowly hold their breath and step back into reality or they can live at home for the rest of their life… I hope they enjoy doing online research because that’s the only damn thing they will be allowed to do for the next five years,

      Although, I do like your other ideas of cutting people off from Government services *in addition* to the above.

      • Phil in London says:

        I have this thing called a health card, I had to use it to get both shots. I had to use it to retrieve a copy of a certificate that I did not get emailed to me. It has my picture on it so people can see it is me. Because of health fraud worries the government does not allow me to use it as ID to open a bank account yet it has many safeguards built into it just like my license. I am no technocrat but surely there must be a way to allow any business to tap into the data base, and ONLY be allowed to confirm vaccination. Have a gander at the face on the card and allow me to pass into the establishment?
        That may be easier than convincing DOFO to get his head out of his ass on passports being a good idea

        • Sean says:

          Phil,

          I think it will be a lot simpler than that. Businesses will just be required to *ask*. If patrons tell them bald faced lies, that’s on the patrons and a different crime altogether. Just like fake ID at a bar. Bouncers aren’t required to *prove* ID on the spot. That’s obviously not practical. They are only required to *ask* for it.

          Will fake passports be produced for profit? Obviously. Just like everything else, it depends on how seriously the government / law enforcement will take it.

          • Phil in London says:

            Sean I agree there is a fear of fraudulent activities, I am just using the health card as one example of how we already can track the vaccinations. I do agree that the onus is on all to be honest but the real problem is a fear of being first to ask.
            Businesses are pushing government – government is passing the buck as many ways as possible and there is no plan outside of Quebec and possibly Manitoba to use ANY system.
            I don’t know if others saw it but a strip club in Toronto is making mandatory vaccines for all staff and patrons.
            The owner felt it a MORAL OBLIGATION to protect staff and patrons.
            Now read this real slow a strip bar is concerned with moral obligations to protect and the government can’t quite see the need to do the same?????
            My biggest argument for a passport system of any kind is that it will encourage more to get vaccinated at a time when we are losing steam on getting as many as we can vaccinated. Doses are expiring and the premier is worried about having to impose another lockdown but is too stupid to move off the sacred ground of freedom.
            I may be one of the biggest team blue fans here but I don’t get appealing to a crowd that is not willing to think of the common good. If that is the base Doug Ford wants to appease I now have three main stream parties I cannot vote for. You have two parties out lefting each other, one is dedicated to socialism and the other can’t be trusted when doling out money to their friends. The supposed PC is not progressive at all it should stand for pathetically (neo ) conservative if it can’t move on this notion.

    • Mary Lucas says:

      There is no reasonable rationale for denying unvaccinated drivers licenses, etc. Your proposal is pure totalitarianism.

    • Tired of the stupid says:

      What a great idea…not allowing unvaxed to get their vehicle registrations renewed, or any of the myriad of stupid shit you posted…We will simply have an entire country of people driving illegally…doing everything illegally actually. I don’t know what planet you came from or what rock you crawled out from under…but please do society a favor and return to your hole and cover yourself with dirt. If someone chooses to get that stupid poisonous injection 1, 2, 3…4….8…10 times or not at all…that is still none of your business!
      Secondly, the Government has no right to deny human rights to any US Citizen! Our body our choice!

  5. Lee Hill says:

    An all too necessary column whether one is in Canada, the Pacific Rim, or in my case, Airstrip One aka the (not so) United Kingdom. Far too many people, including far too many of my contemporaries who I once shared groovy tastes in bands and cult films with (see also Anne Applebaum’s Twilight of Democracy for how depressingly easy it is for even the most well educated and accomplished Gen Xers to give up their hearts and minds to toxic ideologies for an easy win…er, but I digress) seem keen to be part of the problem rather than the solution. I have gotten so used to wearing a mask, carrying hand gel, keeping my distance from my fellow human and navigating the world off-peak that it feels weird to occasionally do the opposite where permitted. Anyway, for the Anti-Vax freedom fighters, COVID-19 protocols will soon be the least of problems. Climate Change is already making far too many parts of the world, from Siberia and British Columbia to Greece and Australia, look like dress rehearsals for the not very musical version of The Road.

  6. Bert Dandy says:

    Looks like one of the Team Covid stuck into the Sun’s print room, Both in today’s print edition and above still, one can read, ” support ranged from 7% in Atlantic Canada to 81% in Ontario.” I suspect that the 7% was meant to be some number between 70 and 79%.

  7. Robert White says:

    Henry David Thoreau’s _Civil Disobedience_ comes to mind here IMHO.

    No disrespect whatsoever, but no Clinical Trials protocols have been followed and this so-called mRNA vaccine is new untested technology without appropriate Clinical Trials protocols being followed.

    My university professors insisted that I adhere to critical thinking skills and peer-review process to avoid dogmatism.

    RW

    • Ted says:

      So go get an Astra Zeneca. It doesn’t appear to work as well, but it would appear to satisfy your criteria.

      • Robert White says:

        What absolutely satisfies empirical criterion & the scientific method is always my bet, but in the case of this current experimental paradigm for testing and the vaccine passport system I, for one, can assure all that I am quite committed to the civil disobedience camp vis-a-vis the current Clinical Trials testing regime rollout.

        I know enough about science to know when the science is bad. When science goes bad I have one option left and that’s Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience.

        Warren understands the art of rhetorical argument as well as anyone, and he knows it’s fair for myself to take this tack as a scientist/researcher.

        RW

        • Sean says:

          Interestingly, in 1855, during Thoreau’s lifetime, the State of Massachusetts (where he was born, lived and died) passed a law requiring mandatory vaccinations for school children.

          This was such a shocking / stunning move that HDT… prolific writer that he was…. penned *not a GD word about it*

          Maybe… just maybe… he thought the experts knew what they were doing and best leave it alone?

          I can’t believe for a moment that if HDT was alive today that he would not be the first in line to get his shot…. and his second shot… and tell his neighbors to do the same. He was a forward thinking science guy after all.

          • Robert White says:

            When I witnessed molten steel dripping from the World Trade Center building as I was watching CNN I immediately realized that molten steel was an impossibility unless somebody was using something on the order of Nano-Thermite.

            From that juncture I knew that all the Mechanical Engineers were going to go ballistic on government post-cleanup. Hundreds of thousands of P.Eng have spoken out about the improbability of an oxygen starved fire downing the steel structures at free fall velocity. In terms of Physics the science & scientists rightfully have spoken out publicly to denounce the official version of events.

            As a Mechanical Engineering Technician I am well versed in terms of metallurgy.

            When I see bad science I immediately react to it in an adversarial manner as I’m sure all of my colleagues in Mechanical Engineering & Social Science do too.

            As an Experimental Psychology researcher I’m always on the lookout for bad science because my skill set is such that it does not jibe with my knowledge of Mechanical Engineering where empirical rule governs everything we do.

            As a signatory & charter member of the 2014 Cambridge Working Group Call-to-Action on Gain-of-Function deadly American manufactured Biosecurity Level Four pandemic pathogens I, for one, know that the science is bastardized.

            If anyone bastardizes science and the peer-review process I immediately go to Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience because Thoreau was a metaphysician scientist that had an excellent grasp of comparitive ecology as science & natural history.

            If steel buildings fall at free fall speed, and scientists & bureaucrats ignore my warnings not to screw around with Gain-of-Function bioweapons then, I have no recourse but to go full bore civil disobedience out of respect to all the scientists that allow me to stand on their shoulders so I can get a good look at the view of the mountains.

            http://www.cambridgeworkinggroup.org/

            You make good points, Sean. You are a good fighter.

            RW

          • Robert,

            Of course the science is both haphazardly rushed and eminently flawed. But I bit the bullet twice in the so-called interests of the non-self, in short others.

            I’ve heard quite a few beauts this week: how various vaccines have made some women sterile and assorted other stories. But in the final analysis, I go with everything is relative. In the case of the above, how do the infertility stats compare with those associated with a STD? More generally, people run from the shot but they sure pick up the alcohol bottle. Would just love to see the percentages of one or the other as regards permanent or chronic degradation of human health. But I digress, I suppose.

    • Steve T says:

      Sorry, you sort of had my interest, until you proffered the nutty 9-11 conspiracy theory below (which has been refuted many times by many people). You’ve confirmed yourself not as a scientist, but as a conspiracy theorist first and foremost.

  8. Gilbert says:

    Astrazeneca extracts the adenovirus from a chimpanzee, and then genetically modifies it so that it’s not harmful and doesn’t grow in humans. I’m waiting for Novavax.

  9. Jon E says:

    I am an idiot.

  10. I am a naturally immune person.
    I looked after my health by not putting
    toxins into my body. I avoid sugar,
    vegetable oil, refinded carbs, sugar drinks,
    processed foods, chemcal tap water and I
    eat whole foods.

    I exercise, sleep well, find happyness,
    love life.

    The vaccine is an experiment only.
    It looks good at the start but there
    are far to many unanswered questions.

    Try living healthy.

    I got covid and recovered in 2 weeks
    of bed rest. Easy.

    But it you prefere to hand over your
    health to a science experiment, go ahead.
    But don’t blame healthy people for your uneducated
    opinion.

  11. Jill Underwood says:

    Now the the CDC and many reputable sources and studies now show that the vaccinated spread covid about the same rate as the unvaccinated do you still stand firm in your assertions in this article? Given the facts?

  12. Brent says:

    Brent is a dumb anti-vaxxer moron. Tell him to fuck off too! brent.alarie@hotmail.ca

  13. B. Burns says:

    I am a dumb cunt.

  14. John says:

    Just scum.

  15. Dan F says:

    This article is aging as well as the website itself. Maybe you were sure that the PHP scripts represented a safe and effective way of handling readers’ comments with no side effects, but now the evidence to the contrary is abundantly clear. Satisfying.


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