Are you getting a 4th shot?

If you are allowed to decline the third or fourth shot, even though the authorities recommend you take it, why couldn't I make my own health decisions as well?

As Canada started offering a 4th COVID shot to the entire population, surveys are showing that demand for these shots is not keeping up. A recent survey by Angus Reid found that only 61% of vaccinated Canadians were interested in any additional shots. The demand was even lower among people who only took 2 doses so far, with only 17% saying they wanted even a third shot.

This strikes a big blow to Justin Trudeau’s argument that 90% of the country, who he says did the right thing, did so willfully. Obviously, millions of Canadians got their shots reluctantly and that is why only 17% of those with two want a third. Even among people who took their third shot, 1/3rd of them said they were not getting a fourth.

What is going on? Are more and more people becoming anti-science? Are more and more people simply becoming selfish with no care for their fellow humans whom they will certainly infect and kill if they don’t take this revolutionary medical product? Or is there a simpler answer? Are more and more people realizing that these shots may be a good preventative therapeutic for the elderly and immunocompromised but they clearly do not affect your ability to carry or spread the virus. They are an experimental product that can lessen the severity of this virus but also carry some side effects (known and unknown). A product you must continue to inject regularly every 3 to 6 months indefinitely. A great choice for someone in their 70s who already is on multiple medication. But likely a much less attractive option for a healthy 30-year-old who does not want to start on regular medications just yet.

I’ve asked some family members recently if they were getting their fourth shot, and to my surprise I received very hostile answers. Many people don’t want to discuss this. They believe it is a personal health decision and its very inappropriate for someone to ask about it. In one instance, someone close to me simply said they don’t know what they will do but abruptly wanted the conversation to end.

These same relatives had no issues asking me repeatedly if I was finally going to go get my shots last Summer and Fall. These same people had no issues regularly going out to restaurants and proudly showing their badge of honour saying how many shots they had taken. While I was forbidden from entering these establishments because I didn’t want to publicly disclose my personal health information.

Many people who feel they should be allowed to choose if they take a third or fourth dose still don’t see the contrast to the fact that they still support the many remaining restrictions on those who simply chose no doses. We are still forbidden from most nursing homes and hospitals to visit loved ones. We are still subject to ridiculously strict entry requirements in our own country (including the obligation to quarantined for 14 days if we leave the country even if we test negate twice upon return). And we still can’t apply for many jobs who still mandate these products for their staff.

Sorry if the post today sounds sarcastic and insensitive but I think we need to discuss the hypocrisy over the last year. I don’t believe I am being sarcastic. I believe I am just pointing out realities that sounds so absurd that one could interpret them as sarcasm.

Sorry if you don’t think you should have to justify your decision to take or not take this therapeutic product.

But I hope you finally understand how millions of Canadians feel. How we felt when our country cancelled it’s second Christmas and closed schools once again and our Prime Minister went on television to lay the entirety of the blame on us because of our health choice. When he and many others proclaimed that my personal health decision was the reason that thousands of Canadians would have their life-saving cancer surgeries cancelled. Even though I have not necessitated any health care in over two years. I hope you understand now how it may feel to be treated like a second-class citizen because many still don’t approve of my health choice.

If you are allowed to decline the third or fourth shot, even though the authorities recommend you take it, why couldn't I make my own health decisions as well?